Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706,406 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,563 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.39% of Moody’s worth $297,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $490.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $464.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $421.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.