Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,285,000 after purchasing an additional 14,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,769,000 after purchasing an additional 24,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $1.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $445.06. The company had a trading volume of 13,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,344. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $445.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $412.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $394.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. 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, July 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.27.

Moody’s 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.