Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Buys 10,135 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 62.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,424 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,135 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $12,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 8.0% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 379 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 70.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 447,444 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $208,370,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 8.6% in the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 289.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter worth about $641,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Up 1.0%

MCO traded up $5.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $507.36. 285,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,859. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The stock's 50-day moving average is $481.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $473.33. The stock has a market cap of $91.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

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.