Savant Capital LLC Has $1.27 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Moody’s by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after buying an additional 7,250 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $380.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $384.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $372.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.50.

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.