Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Buys 354 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $38,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 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 report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $448.50.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MCO stock traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $456.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 674,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,154. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $425.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $400.94. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $462.66. 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 company has a market cap of $83.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard G. Steele 1,506 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.