M&T Bank Corp Acquires 234 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $4.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $380.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 793,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,106. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $383.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.50.

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.