Welch & Forbes LLC Acquires 606 Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 5,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $495.65 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $485.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $473.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.80, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.07.

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.