Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 45.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 828,299 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 689,426 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises 1.1% of Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.46% of Moody's worth $385,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 80.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.07.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded down $3.04 on Tuesday, hitting $499.33. 536,407 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 765,397. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $479.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.94. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $89.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.