Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Acquires 24 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 9,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,326,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 36,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,311,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $462.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $84.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.52, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $438.56.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.