877 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 877 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $4.89 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $474.26. 552,123 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $479.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $468.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

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.