HTLF Bank Takes $484,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,418,296,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 0.7% in the first quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,643,000 after buying an additional 38,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after acquiring an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $851,276,000 after purchasing an additional 41,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.0 %

Moody’s stock opened at $374.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $384.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $369.13. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 2.97 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

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.