Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 3,166 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,166 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.23% of Moody’s worth $162,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MCO traded up $1.52 on Monday, hitting $450.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 137,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,577. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $458.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $422.75 and its 200 day moving average is $399.48. The firm has a market cap of $81.99 billion, a PE ratio of 49.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.50.

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.