Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires Shares of 1,426 Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,426 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 55,808.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $373,879,000 after buying an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $150,376,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.40.

Moody's Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $471.57 on Monday. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $461.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $473.10. The stock has a market cap of $84.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

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.

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