Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $101.07 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,038 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,399 shares during the period. Moody's accounts for about 1.2% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Moody's worth $101,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $469.86. The stock had a trading volume of 799,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,531. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $466.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39. 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 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.