Heritage Wealth Management LLC Makes New $1.02 Million Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Heritage Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after buying an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after acquiring an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded down $10.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $362.78. The stock had a trading volume of 427,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,943. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $66.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $384.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.80.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.43. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

Moody’s Company 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.