Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 5,095 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $32,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody's by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Mizuho started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.40.

Moody's Trading Up 0.2%

MCO stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $482.71. The company had a trading volume of 832,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,553. The business has a 50-day moving average of $469.05 and a 200-day moving average of $472.30. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $86.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.