Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 265,389 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.85% of Moody's worth $712,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after buying an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $622,076,000 after buying an additional 25,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its stake in Moody's by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,086,565 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $506,002,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MCO traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $515.63. The company had a trading volume of 375,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,140. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $495.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.61. The stock has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

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.