Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Has $5.36 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 23.0% in 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 period. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in 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 increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during 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 period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. 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, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $421.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $397.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $390.02. 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 has a market capitalization of $77.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.06, a PEG 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.