Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC Sells 78 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $376.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $384.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.04. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The company has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

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.