Value Partners Investments Inc. Decreases Holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Value Partners Investments Inc. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $481.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $469.05 and a 200 day moving average of $472.30. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.39. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.40.

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.