Crown Oak Advisors LLC Purchases 651 Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Crown Oak Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Moody’s makes up about 3.9% of Crown Oak Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Crown Oak Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $471.00 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $84.73 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $463.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.92.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.40.

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.