First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Purchases New Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 600 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Markel Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 212,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,865,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Moody’s by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 30,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $373.12. The stock had a trading volume of 193,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,577. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $68.09 billion, a PE ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $384.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $368.73.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

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.