Cwm LLC Boosts Stock Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Cwm LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,839 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 increased 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.07.

Moody's Stock Down 0.5%

Moody's stock opened at $499.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $486.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.50. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $89.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.

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