FCF Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,387,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $9.98 on Tuesday, hitting $467.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 313,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,656. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $85.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $473.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $430.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $483.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Company 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.