SVB Wealth LLC Acquires 1,079 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

SVB Wealth LLC raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 53.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4,900.0% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $374.60 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $68.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $384.62 and its 200-day moving average is $368.73.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s 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.