S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes $2.94 Million Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has invested approximately $2.94 million in Moody's Corporation by acquiring 6,317 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Moody's, with Wells Fargo increasing its target from $573 to $595 and JPMorgan raising its target from $495 to $565.
• Moody's corporation reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $1.90 billion, up 4.5% from the previous year.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,317 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,942,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 93 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 related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $4.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $516.57. The company had a trading volume of 410,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 844,752. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.41. 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 capitalization of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

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.