Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 2,467 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,486 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,467 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Moody's were worth $27,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:MCO traded down $9.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $471.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 471,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $459.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.67. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.