Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Purchases 764 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 73.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,802 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Moody's stock traded down $6.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $499.42. 455,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,175. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $483.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.68.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.07.

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.