State of Alaska Department of Revenue Buys 370 Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1%

MCO stock opened at $470.64 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $464.28 and its 200 day moving average is $472.90. The stock has a market cap of $84.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 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. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

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.