Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Lessened by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,903 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

MCO stock opened at $382.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $69.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $383.84 and a 200-day moving average of $370.87.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The company’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

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.