Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 2,467 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,467 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $27,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 55,808.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $373,879,000 after purchasing an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $485.16 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $456.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $473.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

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.