Smart Money Group LLC Makes New Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Smart Money Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 767 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Moody’s by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 208,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $81,462,000 after acquiring an additional 10,394 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in Moody’s by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 17,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,731,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,022,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $376.40. 1,343,527 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,713. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.80. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.43. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change 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 38.95%.

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.