Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Decreased by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Moody’s by 1.2% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $372.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $67.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.80. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

About Moody’s

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.