Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,718,296 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 95,702 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.51% of Moody's worth $1,265,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,487 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Moody's by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,075 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,823,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $7.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $504.42. 485,177 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,859. The business has a 50-day moving average of $478.63 and a 200 day moving average of $472.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a PE ratio of 43.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts predict that Moody's Corporation 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.40.

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.