Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Kintegral Advisory LLC

Kintegral Advisory LLC cut its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 32.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,625 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,211 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $7.30 on Friday, hitting $504.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 485,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $478.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.62. The company has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $521.40.

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.