Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,324 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,027,829 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $478,650,000 after acquiring an additional 33,445 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter worth approximately $6,367,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,899,490,000 after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $944,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's
In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.
Moody's Stock Down 0.6%
Moody's stock opened at $514.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $495.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.40. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.
Moody's Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.95%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Moody's
About Moody's
(
Free Report)
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.
Recommended Stories

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.
Before you consider Moody's, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Moody's wasn't on the list.
While Moody's currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.