HB Wealth Management LLC Buys 10,352 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 325.4%, acquiring a total of 13,533 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million during the first quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Moody's, with recent price target upgrades from firms like Barclays and Wells Fargo, boosting targets to as high as $595, while maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, surpassing estimates and showing a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase at $1.9 billion.

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 325.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,533 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,352 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% in 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 raised its stake in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $7.28 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $517.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 313,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,257. The firm has a market cap of $93.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $489.81 and a 200-day moving average of $476.33. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

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.