Vontobel Holding Ltd. Lowers Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,832 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,494 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $11,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $521.40.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $7.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $504.42. 485,177 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,939. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $476.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is 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.