First American Trust FSB Sells 49 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

First American Trust FSB lessened its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 666 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,818,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,616,166,000 after purchasing an additional 646,180 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,416,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,896,719,000 after purchasing an additional 222,009 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,399,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,108,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,067 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,782,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,083,675,000 after purchasing an additional 68,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,872,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $731,329,000 after purchasing an additional 86,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the company’s stock.

MCO stock opened at $263.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $294.95 and a 200-day moving average of $330.25. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $251.01 and a fifty-two week high of $407.94.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.90 by ($0.01). Moody’s had a net margin of 32.18% and a return on equity of 79.22%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 19th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.52%.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $318.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Moody’s from $372.00 to $324.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 2nd. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on Moody’s from $395.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Moody’s from $344.00 to $329.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $338.58.

In related news, Director Raymond W. Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.41, for a total transaction of $2,994,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,216,973.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Profile (Get Rating)

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.

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