Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 527.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,824 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after buying an additional 2,942 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $244,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,769,000 after acquiring an additional 24,335 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,285,000 after acquiring an additional 14,344 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Oppenheimer boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $413.92 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $414.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $387.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $75.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.26.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.