Artemis Investment Management LLP Has $25.33 Million Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Artemis Investment Management LLP cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,389 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,781 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Moody's were worth $25,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $14.13 on Monday, reaching $502.16. 741,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,009. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $90.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $471.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.89.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

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.