Stanley Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 15,758 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Stanley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,633,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Moody’s by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Motco lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,967,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 3.2 %

MCO stock opened at $478.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $468.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.71.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’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 transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. 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. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.