Ground Swell Capital LLC Takes Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased 539 shares of Moody's Corporation, valued at approximately $251,000, marking its first position in the company.
• Multiple hedge funds have significantly increased their stakes in Moody's, with some firms, like Wolff Wiese Magana LLC, raising their positions by 1,000% or more in the first quarter.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Moody's, with Barclays raising their target from $520 to $580 and Wells Fargo from $573 to $595, reflecting optimism about the company’s performance.

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 539 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% in 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 last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco lifted its position in Moody's by 581.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Trading Up 1.0%

Moody's stock opened at $521.20 on Thursday. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $498.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.23. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $93.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.

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