Welch & Forbes LLC Increases Stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,865 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $22,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,715,000 after acquiring an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,128 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $261,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Moody's by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,340 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,055,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.07.

Moody's Price Performance

Moody's stock traded up $2.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $503.13. 547,899 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,710. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $485.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.10. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $90.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.49, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.47%.

Moody's 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.