Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $487.77.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $475.11 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $86.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $495.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $474.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $432.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 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 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given 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 was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

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.