Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys 93 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $488.46.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $488.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $477.50 and a 200 day moving average of $435.88. The company has a market cap of $89.19 billion, a PE ratio of 53.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, 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 transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.