Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $363,000 Stock Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 657.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 780 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st 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 shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.40.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $488.46 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $471.50 and its 200-day moving average is $472.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

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 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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