Donaldson Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,323 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $11,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.40.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $2.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $481.31. The company had a trading volume of 490,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,322. The company has a fifty day moving average of $459.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $473.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.