Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $12.92 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,379 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $476.15 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $469.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $86.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.