SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,296,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased 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 valued at $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.3% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,693,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $535,573,000 after purchasing an additional 21,145 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $4.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $380.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 784,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,418. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.82. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.