Troy Asset Management Ltd Sells 672 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Troy Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 672 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 2.5% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.10% of Moody’s worth $78,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 52.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,893,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $474.59 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. 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 company has a market capitalization of $86.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $471.03 and a 200 day moving average of $427.84.

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 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.