Banco Santander S.A. Raises Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 33.0%, now owning 25,672 shares valued at nearly $12 million.
• Moody's Corporation recently reported $3.56 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, and experienced a 4.5% revenue growth year-over-year.
• The firm's board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.8% for shareholders.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 33.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,672 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $11,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Moody's by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the 4th 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Moody's by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Moody's by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $622,076,000 after purchasing an additional 25,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its stake in Moody's by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,086,565 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $506,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $517.79. 604,267 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 805,232. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $493.81 and a 200 day moving average of $477.85. The company has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a PE ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

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.