Duality Advisers LP Grows Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Duality Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 99.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,648 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises approximately 0.6% of Duality Advisers LP's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Duality Advisers LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody's by 0.7% in the first quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,909,643,000 after acquiring an additional 38,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Moody's by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after purchasing an additional 914,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $851,276,000 after purchasing an additional 41,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody's from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Moody's from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moody's from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $374.67. 820,511 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 651,201. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $384.01 and a 200 day moving average of $369.95. The stock has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 10.77 EPS 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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