Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $1.49 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Motco raised its stake in Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew 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 worth $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $2,893,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,191,000 after acquiring an additional 3,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $483.85.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $457.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $430.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.52 billion, a PE ratio of 49.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s 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.