Syon Capital LLC Buys 431 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP raised its position in Moody’s by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $376.13. 632,778 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,790. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $384.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.97.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 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.