Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 30,774 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 373,560 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 30,774 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Moody's worth $173,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $488.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $471.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.05. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.40.

About Moody's

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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