Signaturefd LLC Has $1.73 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after buying an additional 119,450 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,594 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $487.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $450.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.85. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $488.64.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.