Delta Investment Management LLC Sells 415 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Delta Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $376.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $384.28 and a 200-day moving average of $371.72. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $296.45 and a one year high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s dividend 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.