MCF Advisors LLC Has $2.33 Million Stock Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

MCF Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,996 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $523.73.

Moody's Stock Down 1.0%

Moody's stock traded down $5.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $495.04. The stock had a trading volume of 164,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 792,790. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.75, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $486.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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