Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $2.13 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,296,000 after buying an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,476 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,867,000 after buying an additional 4,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 873,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,264,000 after buying an additional 9,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $4.16 on Friday, hitting $380.56. The stock had a trading volume of 793,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,106. The company has a market capitalization of $69.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $383.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $373.23. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average 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.