Clean Yield Group Increases Stock Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Clean Yield Group raised its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 933.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,153 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $483.84. The stock had a trading volume of 350,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $456.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.69.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.40.

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.