Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 56.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors grew its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Moody’s by 1.2% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $380.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $69.49 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $383.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $374.01. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.