Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in Moody’s by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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 research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.27.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $4.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $431.27. 83,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 702,328. 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 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $437.30. The company has a market cap of $78.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.59, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $409.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $393.65.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.81 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given 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 0.79%. Moody’s’s dividend 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.