Bison Wealth LLC Acquires 94 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 4,900.0% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $373.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $386.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $368.26. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

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.