Raiffeisen Bank International AG Acquires 828 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 7.1%, acquiring an additional 828 shares, bringing their total holdings to 12,522 shares worth approximately $5.78 million.
• Analyst price targets for Moody’s have been raised by several firms, with Barclays setting a new target of $580.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the company's stock.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, yielding 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,522 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Moody's by 55,808.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Moody's by 142.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,083,000 after acquiring an additional 238,569 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after buying an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $102,413,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MCO stock traded down $3.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $516.40. 841,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 843,316. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $493.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $477.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month 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.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 in the last quarter. 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.