D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 529 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,735 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 5.5% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in Moody's by 77,500.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Moody's by 7.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 10.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $520.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.5%

MCO opened at $502.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 2.89 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $479.88 and a 200-day moving average of $472.94. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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