Ninety One North America Inc. Reduces Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Ninety One North America Inc. cut its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 48.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,589 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 42,044 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises approximately 1.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $21,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $520.73.

Moody's Stock Down 0.5%

MCO traded down $2.55 on Monday, hitting $502.51. The company had a trading volume of 630,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,312. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $478.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.69. 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 quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

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.