Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,699 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $24,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Four 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

Moody’s stock opened at $395.95 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $375.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 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.