Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 113.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,142 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the second 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 Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $487.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $450.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.85. The company has a market cap of $89.06 billion, a PE ratio of 53.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. 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 fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $488.64.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.