Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 49.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,532 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $10,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 19.0% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth approximately $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.40.

Moody's Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:MCO opened at $476.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $466.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.12.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for 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, sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.