King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 11,463 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 299,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,463 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.16% of Moody’s worth $126,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 106,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,493 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 19.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Moody’s by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 465,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’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 owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. 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 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $490.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $466.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.79. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $492.48.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.