IMS Capital Management Acquires 38 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

IMS Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.84. 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 stock has a market cap of $86.66 billion, a PE ratio of 51.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Research 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued 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 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.