Ted Buchan & Co Makes New Investment in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Ted Buchan & Co invested approximately $445,000 in a new position of 955 shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the first quarter.
• Moody's reported a 4.5% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $1.90 billion, and earnings per share of $3.56, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing an annualized total of $3.76 with a yield of 0.7%.

Ted Buchan & Co bought a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 955 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after buying an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,897,000 after buying an additional 140,128 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $521.20 on Thursday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $498.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.23. The firm has a market cap of $93.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. 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 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on 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, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

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.

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