Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 29 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $482.09 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $350.38 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The stock has a market cap of $87.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.03, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $474.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $446.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.