Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires 665 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 56,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,670,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 14,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,833,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 8,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $478.45 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $342.16 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $474.46 and a 200-day moving average of $444.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.