Proficio Capital Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $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 during the period. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 200.0% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded down $4.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $431.27. 83,336 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,328. The business has a fifty day moving average of $409.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $393.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $78.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $437.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays upgraded 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.27.

Moody’s 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.