Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 1,333 Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,333 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $40,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $474,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.8%

MCO opened at $489.37 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $467.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.24. 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 fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s dividend 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.