Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 65.0% during Q1, bringing their total investment to $1.16 million.
• Moody's reported a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.90 billion for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 65.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,490 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Moody's by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after buying an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Moody's by 9.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,897,000 after buying an additional 140,128 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 21.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.4%

MCO stock traded down $7.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $509.18. 542,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,430. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $499.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $479.36. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

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.