Qsemble Capital Management LP Invests $211,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 502 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its stake in Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $2,967,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related 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 value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now 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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $476.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $463.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $420.14. The firm has a market cap of $86.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis 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 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.