National Pension Service Acquires 6,218 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,218 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $114,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $1.98 on Wednesday, reaching $395.95. The company had a trading volume of 550,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,027. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $384.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.15. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

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.