500 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 10.8% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 6.9% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 24.9% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 894 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,742,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MCO opened at $374.62 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $384.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 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.