TFR Capital LLC. Raises Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

TFR Capital LLC. boosted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 15.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,258 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 55,808.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $373,879,000 after purchasing an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 142.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,083,000 after purchasing an additional 238,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.07.

Moody's Stock Up 0.8%

MCO traded up $4.21 on Monday, hitting $503.74. The company had a trading volume of 547,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,218. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $483.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.58. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. 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 market capitalization of $90.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.