United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,026 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 2.2% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $42,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Moody’s by 323.3% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 44,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,927,000 after buying an additional 33,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $5.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $375.77. 356,751 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,247. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $368.64. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results 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). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.