Lincoln Capital LLC Reduces Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Lincoln Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for about 1.1% of Lincoln Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Moody’s by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,285,000 after purchasing an additional 14,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock traded up $4.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $424.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 77,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,898. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $428.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $400.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $391.08. The company has a market capitalization of $77.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.50.

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.