Investment Management Corp VA ADV Grows Stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Investment Management Corp VA ADV significantly increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 2,102.3%, owning 969 shares worth $451,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutions, including Accretive Wealth Partners LLC and TD Asset Management Inc, have also boosted their positions in Moody's, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 92.11% of the company's stock.
• Moody's reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $3.56 and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, reflecting a yield of 0.73%.

Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2,102.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 969 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 925 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV's holdings in Moody's were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,489 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Motco raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody's by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 658,443 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $306,630,000 after acquiring an additional 51,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 325.4% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,533 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,302,000 after acquiring an additional 10,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.1%

Moody's stock opened at $512.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.67. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

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.

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