Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 898,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.49% of Moody’s worth $350,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5.0% during the 3rd 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,474,000 after acquiring an additional 59,476 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 825,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,155,000 after acquiring an additional 167,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $394.62. The company had a trading volume of 232,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,355. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $407.62. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $384.45 and its 200-day moving average is $375.15.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

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.