Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Buys 47 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 44,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,945,000 after purchasing an additional 17,407 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 36,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,402,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 150.6% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,474,000 after acquiring an additional 59,476 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MCO opened at $421.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $77.04 billion, a PE ratio of 46.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $423.99. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $397.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.02.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company 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 research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.50.

Moody’s 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.