Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $376.13 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.04.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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