Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 207.7% during the 4th quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $445,000. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $332,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 12,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,732,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.3 %

MCO stock opened at $424.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $474.51.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

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.