Windacre Partnership LLC Purchases 173,900 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Windacre Partnership LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 173,900 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises about 9.4% of Windacre Partnership LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Windacre Partnership LLC owned approximately 0.96% of Moody’s worth $686,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $720,502,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after buying an additional 1,678,594 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,781,000 after buying an additional 254,178 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, insider Richard G. Steele 1,506 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.50.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $7.90 on Tuesday, reaching $458.06. The stock had a trading volume of 927,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,221. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $424.40 and a 200 day moving average of $400.55. The stock has a market cap of $83.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $459.05.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

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.