Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 950 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,988 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Moody's makes up approximately 1.8% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 225,512 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $105,019,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.1% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 953 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.5% in the first quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 5,125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 50.3% in the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 487 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Up 0.3%

Moody's stock opened at $489.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $455.45 and its 200-day moving average is $473.61. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.40.

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.

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