Invesco Ltd. Sells 11,537 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stock holdings in Moody's Corporation by 1.1%, now owning approximately 0.57% of the company, worth $474 million.
• The insider, Stephen T. Tulenko, sold 2,120 shares at an average price of $511.18, indicating a 27.61% decrease in his ownership.
• Moody's reported a net margin of 29.18% and earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a projected annual EPS of 13.95.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,018,027 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,537 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.57% of Moody's worth $474,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% during the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE MCO traded up $5.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $521.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 520,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,389. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $497.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.94. The stock has a market cap of $93.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

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.