Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $422.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $396.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $423.99.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective 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 research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.50.

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.