Slow Capital Inc. Has $3.46 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Slow Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Conning Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.5% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $488.46 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $435.57. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $89.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $488.46.

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.