DeDora Capital Inc. Invests $487,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

DeDora Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $35,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

MCO stock traded up $4.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $380.56. The company had a trading volume of 793,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,106. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The company has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $383.97 and a 200 day moving average of $373.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.