Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Grows Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 978 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 143,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,230,000 after purchasing an additional 33,540 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,100,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MCO traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $475.45. 367,819 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 733,529. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $476.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $441.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $408.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current 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 given 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 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.