Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second 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 period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $481.72 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $490.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $453.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.67. The firm has a market cap of $87.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Friday, July 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.46.

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.