355 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 355 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $139,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 87.7% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $376.13 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.72. The company has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

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.