Makena Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,911 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Makena Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the period. Moody’s makes up 2.0% of Makena Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Makena Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,336,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 41,992.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 279,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,826,000 after purchasing an additional 279,253 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the second 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 buying an additional 225,846 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

MCO opened at $474.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.56 billion, a PE ratio of 51.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.72. 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 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

About Moody’s

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.