Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Stake Boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 1.1% during Q1, now owning 1,293,936 shares valued at approximately $602.57 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Moody's, with Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raising its stake by 1,000.0%.
• Moody's reported better-than-expected earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analyst estimates and marking a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,293,936 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,557 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.72% of Moody's worth $602,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Moody's by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 9.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $4.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $516.57. 410,186 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 844,752. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $499.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.57. The firm has a market cap of $92.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

About Moody's

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.