Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 656 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,859 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Moody's were worth $22,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $499.42 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $483.66 and its 200-day moving average is $473.63. The stock has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

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.

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