Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 1,566 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 275,474 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,566 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Moody's worth $128,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America began 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 on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.07.

Moody's Trading Down 0.5%

MCO traded down $2.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $499.82. 1,948,990 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,229. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $486.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $474.50. The firm has a market cap of $89.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS 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 dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

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.