SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 823 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $383,000.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings 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. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.
Moody's Stock Up 1.5%
MCO stock traded up $7.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $504.42. 485,177 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,939. The company has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $477.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $472.47. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Moody's Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced 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 was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 32.47%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.40.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Moody's
About Moody's
(
Free Report)
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.
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