Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 27.5%, now owning shares valued at approximately $4.36 million.
• Moody's reported Q2 earnings per share of $3.56, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.17 and revealing a 4.5% revenue increase compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,371 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,556 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 132.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco lifted its stake in Moody's by 581.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded down $4.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $516.57. The stock had a trading volume of 410,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 844,752. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $499.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.50. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $92.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

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.