Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV reduced its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its position in Moody’s by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $403.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $426.63. 65,349 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,657. The company has a market capitalization of $77.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $404.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $392.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $428.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.