Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 97.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,114 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,495 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $4,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $488.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $471.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.23. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned 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 $519.40.

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.

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