Cross Staff Investments Inc Purchases 62 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 87.7% during 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 in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 85.5% in the third quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $377.74. 328,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 712,755. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $384.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.97. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The firm has a market cap of $68.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 38.95%.

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.