Trust Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Trust Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 valued at $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,193,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 12,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,732,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3%

MCO opened at $515.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. 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 research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.80.

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.