Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Boosted by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 20.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCO opened at $490.11 on Friday. 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 $492.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $466.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.79. The company has a market capitalization of $89.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’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 value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.