AMF Tjanstepension AB Trims Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AMF Tjanstepension AB lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 35.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,133 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Moody’s Stock Up 0.4 %

MCO opened at $420.93 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $428.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $402.52 and its 200-day moving average is $391.58. The company has a market capitalization of $76.86 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

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.