Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $153,532,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,728,000 after acquiring an additional 429,473 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32,275.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,489,000 after acquiring an additional 220,764 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,671,000 after acquiring an additional 206,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after acquiring an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $376.13. The stock had a trading volume of 632,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 717,847. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $384.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $371.37. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of 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, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

About Moody’s

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.