K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Purchases Shares of 604 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 604 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $376.13. The company had a trading volume of 718,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,299. The firm has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $384.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $371.37. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $296.45 and a one year high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.