Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Decreases Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,206,000 after acquiring an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after acquiring an additional 7,250 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $376.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $384.28 and its 200 day moving average is $371.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 38.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

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.