Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 27,753 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,596 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 27,753 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.10% of Moody's worth $87,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter worth $49,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $83,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $536.93.

Moody's Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $5.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $513.59. 846,203 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 802,667. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $488.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.07. The firm has a market cap of $92.40 billion, a PE ratio of 44.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.