Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Buys 183 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 81.2% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 16,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 938 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MCO opened at $486.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $451.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.87.

About Moody’s

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.