Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Increased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,572,828 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,065 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $662,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $720,502,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 7,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $484.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $88.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.93, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $490.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $464.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.17.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. 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.