LPL Financial LLC Purchases 14,655 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 12.9%, acquiring an additional 14,655 shares, bringing its total ownership to 127,928 shares valued at approximately $59.6 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Moody's, with an average price target of $538.80, reflecting optimistic growth expectations despite some varying outlooks on the stock price.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an upcoming payment date of September 5th, indicating a steady income distribution to shareholders.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,928 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,655 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $59,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Motco increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 581.3% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other 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 transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $515.58 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $491.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $476.98. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 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.

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