Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 0.8%, owning approximately 14.8 million shares valued at around $6.9 billion as of its latest SEC filing.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Moody's price targets, with Wells Fargo increasing theirs from $573 to $595 and most analysts rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 15th, reflecting a yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.24% of Moody's worth $6,899,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco increased its holdings in Moody's by 581.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MCO opened at $517.79 on Thursday. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $494.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.13. The stock has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a PE ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's 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.

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