Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Moody’s by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,016 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $374.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The company has a market capitalization of $68.36 billion, a PE ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $384.62 and its 200 day moving average is $368.73.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

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.