Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lowered its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 28.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,086 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,226 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.1%

MCO stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $512.62. The stock had a trading volume of 688,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,171. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $489.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $475.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $92.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

About Moody's

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.