PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $68.92 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 3.7%, owning 147,986 shares valued at approximately $68.9 million after selling 5,738 shares during the first quarter.
• Moody's recently reported earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $1.90 billion, marking a 4.5% increase year-over-year.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share is set to be paid on September 5th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.8%.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,986 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,738 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Moody's worth $68,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 211,551 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $98,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 15.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,865,000 after acquiring an additional 3,356 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 17.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 872 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 5.7% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:MCO traded down $4.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $515.74. The stock had a trading volume of 116,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,126. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average is $493.11 and its 200-day moving average is $477.58.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

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.