Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $19.12 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,163 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $19,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $153,532,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 39.7% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,728,000 after purchasing an additional 429,473 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 32,275.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 221,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,489,000 after purchasing an additional 220,764 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Moody’s by 40.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 720,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,671,000 after purchasing an additional 206,698 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $379.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $69.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $383.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $370.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

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.