Dock Street Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,100 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,730 shares during the period. Moody's comprises about 1.2% of Dock Street Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Dock Street Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $9,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Moody's Trading Down 1.2%

MCO traded down $6.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $499.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,094. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a PE ratio of 43.13, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $483.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 32.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.07.

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.