Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 533 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 533 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,418,296,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,643,000 after buying an additional 38,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after buying an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Moody’s by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after acquiring an additional 914,530 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $851,276,000 after acquiring an additional 41,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $375.41 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $385.09 and its 200 day moving average is $368.69. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $296.45 and a one year high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $68.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS 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 last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price 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 target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.