Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 5.5% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $470,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 19.0% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.40.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3%

MCO opened at $476.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $466.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $472.12. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.47%.

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.