Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 33,445 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 3.4%, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $478.65 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Moody's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, surpassing estimates, contributing to a 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth of $1.90 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, expected to be paid on September 5th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,027,829 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,445 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Moody's worth $478,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings 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 worth $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $283,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,478 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 72,510 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $515.63. 375,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 867,140. The firm has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $478.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

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.