Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $4.09 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,144 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $521.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:MCO opened at $485.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $495.67 and its 200-day moving average is $483.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.