Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Boosted by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $27,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 23.8% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 70,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 821 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,693,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’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 owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays boosted 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 increased their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $478.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.39 billion, a PE ratio of 52.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $461.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.76. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $490.18. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.