Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,296,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after buying an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,474,000 after acquiring an additional 59,476 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 873,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,264,000 after acquiring an additional 9,420 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $4.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $380.56. 793,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 756,106. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.50.

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.