Auto Owners Insurance Co Increases Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4,738.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,143 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,210 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Moody's were worth $21,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first 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 increased its position in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $512.62. The stock had a trading volume of 688,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,171. The company has a market capitalization of $92.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $489.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $475.67.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.