Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $153.76 Million Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,699 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,104 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.22% of Moody's worth $153,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 4,900.0% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. 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. Barclays raised Moody's from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Moody's from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $370.32. The company had a trading volume of 900,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,457. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month 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. The company's 50-day moving average is $386.23 and its 200-day moving average is $368.26. The company has a market capitalization of $67.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The firm's revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

Moody's 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.