Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 830 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. Six equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $484.67 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $465.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.32. The company has a market cap 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. 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 data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 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.