Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,693,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 50,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,596,000 after acquiring an additional 5,252 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund lifted its stake in Moody’s by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund now owns 1,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 owned 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $504.42 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.69. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for 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, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $521.40.

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.