Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 3,104 Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,104 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $512.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 688,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.69. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $92.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price 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. lifted their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody'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 directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.