Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) is Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for 2.5% of Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $11.61 on Friday, hitting $477.18. 720,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 682,764. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $474.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $444.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $86.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $337.80 and a 1 year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was 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 through the SEC website. 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.