Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $14,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’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 owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.4 %

Moody’s stock opened at $484.67 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $490.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $465.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.32. The company has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid 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%.

Moody’s 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.