Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,756 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,283,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MCO
Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's
In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.
Moody's Stock Performance
Shares of MCO stock traded up $4.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $512.25. 335,657 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 795,448. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $489.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $476.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.15 billion, a PE ratio of 43.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.
Moody's Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.
Moody's Profile
(
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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