Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 2,408 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,408 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after buying an additional 119,450 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

MCO stock opened at $475.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a PE ratio of 51.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $490.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $457.61 and its 200-day moving average is $416.65.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given 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 payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.00.

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.