Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Decreases Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $139,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 26,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,381,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $996,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE MCO traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $381.21. 568,374 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 715,384. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $383.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.