Kowal Investment Group LLC Sells 96 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Moody’s by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Motco grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,967,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 52.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given 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 an average target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $494.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $90.32 billion, a PE ratio of 54.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.