Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Buys 50 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 85.5% during the third quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $5.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $375.33. 317,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,349. The company’s fifty day moving average is $384.13 and its 200-day moving average is $370.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $68.50 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current 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 was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

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.