Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) is Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s 3rd Largest Position

Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lessened its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,669,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,351 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises approximately 10.7% of Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $652,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 4,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $370.73. The company had a trading volume of 900,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,445. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $385.68 and its 200 day moving average is $368.64. The company has a market cap of $67.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

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.