Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Takes $210,000 Position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco increased its stake in Moody’s by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $521.20 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $498.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $93.29 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $538.80.

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.