Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.50.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $7.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $387.70. The stock had a trading volume of 781,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,933. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $383.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $374.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $70.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.