Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for about 1.7% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,502,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its stake in Moody’s by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after buying an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,773,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $692,850,000 after buying an additional 229,831 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 32,275.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,489,000 after buying an additional 220,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 40.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,671,000 after acquiring an additional 206,698 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $420.93. 923,554 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 675,526. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $428.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $402.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $391.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.86 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a PEG ratio of 3.27 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. Research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.