Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Buys 85 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealthsource Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors raised its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.2% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $7.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $387.70. 781,321 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $70.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $383.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $374.01. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.50.

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.