RWA Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,550 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $996,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. HWG Holdings LP grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 85.5% in the third quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $381.21 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $384.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $370.94. The company has a market capitalization 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. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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