DRW Securities LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Trading Down 3.2 %

MCO stock opened at $478.82 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $468.48 and its 200 day moving average is $424.71. The company has a market capitalization of $87.43 billion, a PE ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’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 directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.