Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Boosted by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $26,985,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5,054.5% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 567 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,884,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 37,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,579,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $460.59. 1,283,824 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 870,865. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $427.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $401.92. The stock has a market cap of $83.87 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $462.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of 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 cut shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard G. Steele 1,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is 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.