HM Payson & Co. Has $1.64 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $461.97 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $489.67 and a 200-day moving average of $482.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.