Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Has $768,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of MCO opened at $470.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $473.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $430.55. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $85.98 billion, a PE ratio of 51.00, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $483.85.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.