Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Purchases 50 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 466 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $2,766,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,893,000. New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,919,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $460.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $472.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $429.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 business 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 business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, 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 value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $483.85.

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.