Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second 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 period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’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 approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. 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 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE MCO opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $464.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $421.88. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

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.