Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Has $403,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 945 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $490.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.15 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $464.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Corporate 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.