Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Raises Holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,515 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $147,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.40.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $481.51 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.