Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 240 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $487.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $488.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.25, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $451.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.00.

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.