Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 59,238 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 74.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 138,472 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,238 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.08% of Moody's worth $64,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 782 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,144 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,328,000 after buying an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. 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 target on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.40.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock traded down $9.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $471.57. 471,871 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 763,490. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $461.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $473.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.