United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Purchases 8,011 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 10.3%, bringing its total ownership to 85,637 shares worth approximately $39.88 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Moody's, with Barclays setting a new target of $580.00 and Mizuho increasing it to $532.00, indicating positive market sentiment.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 4.5%. Additionally, the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,637 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,011 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for approximately 1.6% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Moody's were worth $39,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 16.1% during the 4th 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 worth $752,980,000 after acquiring an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Moody's by 9.7% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $622,076,000 after purchasing an additional 25,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,086,565 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $506,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of MCO stock traded up $19.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $520.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 886,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 830,507. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.16 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $492.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $477.27.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

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.