IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $15.23 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,090 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,919 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $15,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Moody's by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,487 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Moody's by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,075 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,823,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.07.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $3.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $499.33. The stock had a trading volume of 536,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,462. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.83 billion, a PE ratio of 43.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.