AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Raises Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,873 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,478 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Moody's were worth $41,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Moody's by 5,967.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,218 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,470,000 after buying an additional 5,132 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 563 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,582,000. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded up $2.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $487.68. 511,422 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 834,225. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $454.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Moody's

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.