White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $284,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 600 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $470,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $486.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $451.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year 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) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

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.