M&T Bank Corp Sells 3,215 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,662 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,215 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $28,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody's by 7.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 10.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $6.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $499.42. 455,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,094. The business's 50 day moving average is $483.66 and its 200-day moving average is $473.63. The company has a market capitalization of $89.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. Equities analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.07.

Moody's 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.