Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,903 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 85.5% in the third quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $382.18 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $383.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $370.87. The firm has a market cap of $69.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.95%.

Moody’s Company 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.