Captrust Financial Advisors Has $2.96 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,242 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 766 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Moody's were worth $2,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 510.8% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO opened at $471.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $446.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.