Smith Salley Wealth Management Purchases 353 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $462.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $478.06 and its 200-day moving average is $438.56. The stock has a market cap of $84.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.