Flossbach Von Storch SE Has $84.12 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Flossbach Von Storch SE decreased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,643 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,915 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned 0.10% of Moody's worth $84,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 16.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $2.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $505.20. 184,819 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,703. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $481.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.63, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

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.