Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $5.77 Million Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 16.1%, ending with 12,395 shares valued at approximately $5.77 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Moody's Corporation, with the average target now at $538.80, indicating a "Moderate Buy" outlook.
• Moody's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, yielding approx 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC decreased its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,395 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,374 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MCO traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $523.09. 266,222 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 794,793. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $498.01 and a 200 day moving average of $479.23. The stock has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.