Congress Asset Management Co. MA Acquires 3,489 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 206,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,489 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned about 0.11% of Moody’s worth $80,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $265,285,000 after purchasing an additional 14,344 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $2.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $408.12. The stock had a trading volume of 461,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,760. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $417.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.52 billion, a PE ratio of 44.55, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $394.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

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.