Summit Global Investments Invests $227,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 581 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $387.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $384.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $374.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.50.

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.