Diversified Trust Co Acquires 1,129 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,074 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on 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. 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 report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.40.

Moody's Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:MCO traded up $6.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $488.46. 866,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 762,227. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month 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 50 day moving average of $471.50 and a 200 day moving average of $472.23. The stock has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a PE ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. 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.