Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Spirepoint Private Client LLC

Spirepoint Private Client LLC lessened its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 36.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,177 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 672 shares during the quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 5.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Moody's by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Moody's in the 1st quarter valued at about $664,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 19.0% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of MCO stock traded up $13.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $489.37. 691,150 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 805,555. The stock has a market cap of $88.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $466.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.12. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Moody's Company 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.