Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Darwin Wealth Management LLC

Darwin Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,425 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after buying an additional 205,800 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,474,000 after buying an additional 59,476 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,867,000 after buying an additional 4,444 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,769,000 after acquiring an additional 24,335 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $401.27. 98,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 725,996. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $385.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.