Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Purchases Shares of 584 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 584 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $63,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $376.13. 632,778 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 717,847. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The company has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $371.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. 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.