Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Lifted by Applied Capital LLC FL

Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 1.9% of Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 150.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 21.8% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 22.1% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 47,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,900,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 146.1% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $424.20. 175,555 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 714,994. The company has a market cap of $77.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $402.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $391.66. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $428.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $403.00.

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.