National Pension Service Purchases 6,218 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 294,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,218 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.16% of Moody’s worth $114,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $395.95. 550,844 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,027. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $407.62. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $375.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MCO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.50.

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.