Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Coston McIsaac & Partners

Coston McIsaac & Partners trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $71,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 53,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,906,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $487,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,967,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 360,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,876,000 after purchasing an additional 34,370 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MCO traded up $1.53 on Friday, reaching $420.93. The stock had a trading volume of 923,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,526. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $428.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $402.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $391.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

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.