Delta Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Delta Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four 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, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $376.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $384.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $371.72. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results 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). 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 firm earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

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.