PGGM Investments Invests $195,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

PGGM Investments bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $153,532,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,728,000 after purchasing an additional 429,473 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32,275.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,489,000 after buying an additional 220,764 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 40.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,671,000 after buying an additional 206,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,927,000 after acquiring an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $374.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $384.36 and a 200-day moving average of $372.43. The company has a market cap of $68.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Moody’s Company 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.