Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 57.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,433 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 36,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,402,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 150.6% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,476 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Moody’s by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2 %

MCO stock opened at $421.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $423.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.04 billion, a PE ratio of 46.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $397.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $389.92.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Moody’s Company 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.