Choreo LLC Has $348,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $195,000. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Moody’s by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.50.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $380.56 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $384.07 and its 200-day moving average is $372.82. The company has a market capitalization of $69.45 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

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.