Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Invests $5.70 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,700,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,673,000 after acquiring an additional 21,300 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 9.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $506,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,890,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $420.27.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $2.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $445.98. The stock had a trading volume of 786,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,015. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $451.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $413.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $394.78.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

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.