Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $353.23 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 6.2%, selling 50,452 shares, leaving it with 758,516 shares valued at approximately $353 million.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, surpassing analyst estimates of $3.39, with revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 4.5%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a 0.73% yield, set to be paid on September 5th to investors of record on August 15th.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 758,516 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 50,452 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.42% of Moody's worth $353,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $4.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $511.96. 335,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 795,448. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $489.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $92.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.48, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, 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 objective for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

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.