Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $16,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,502,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,706,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 39.7% in the first quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,773,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $692,850,000 after buying an additional 229,831 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE MCO traded up $11.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $448.75. 884,404 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 757,001. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.32. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $458.24. The company has a market cap of $81.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased 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 boosted their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.50.

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.