RWA Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $996,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $381.21 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $384.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $370.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

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.