1,240 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by HTLF Bank

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,296,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.7% during the first quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,643,000 after purchasing an additional 38,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,112,947,000 after buying an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,276,000 after buying an additional 41,746 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $374.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $384.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $369.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27. 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 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

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.