Ninety One UK Ltd Has $748.32 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,916,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,009 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 2.2% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $748,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Moody’s by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Moody’s by 323.3% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 44,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,927,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $372.94. 256,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 712,565. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $385.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $368.69. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $68.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

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.