Machina Capital S.A.S. Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 713 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,152 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 39.7% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,728,000 after purchasing an additional 429,473 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 32,275.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,489,000 after purchasing an additional 220,764 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Moody’s by 40.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,671,000 after purchasing an additional 206,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MCO. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.50.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $6.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $393.97. 749,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,031. The company has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $384.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $374.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 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.