Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by SRS Capital Advisors Inc.

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Conning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

MCO traded down $8.41 on Friday, reaching $475.44. 689,097 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $457.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $416.36. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $490.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.00.

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.