Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 16.8%, owning 3,652 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million as of the end of the recent quarter.
• Moody's reported a net margin of 29.18% and beat earnings expectations with an EPS of $3.56 compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annualized dividend of $3.76, reflecting a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,652 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 524 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 136,873 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $64,792,000 after buying an additional 26,702 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $515.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm's 50-day moving average is $491.49 and its 200 day moving average is $476.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Company 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.

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