Lido Advisors LLC Has $871,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66 % 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 the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $465.35 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $449.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

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.