Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $372.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $67.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $384.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.80. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

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.