Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 934 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $6,556,000 after buying an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 17.0% in 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 buying an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $381.21 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $384.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $370.94.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. 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 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 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

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.