Golden State Equity Partners Has $443,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $376.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $384.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.72. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.