Welch & Forbes LLC Has $17.01 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,427 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $153,532,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,728,000 after buying an additional 429,473 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 32,275.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,489,000 after buying an additional 220,764 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,671,000 after buying an additional 206,698 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $7.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $387.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 781,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,934. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $70.83 billion, a PE ratio of 42.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $384.13 and a 200 day moving average of $374.55.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.50.

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.