Hoylecohen LLC Buys New Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hoylecohen LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $3.58 on Friday, reaching $410.60. 498,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 749,095. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $74.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.83, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $417.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $390.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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.com, the stock presently 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.