Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Cut by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,899 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,230 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 12,981 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,464,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 45,806 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $19,281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Moody's by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,228,382,000 after buying an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Moody's by 2.6% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Moody's by 14.0% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,836 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock traded up $4.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $484.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 515,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,745. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company's 50 day moving average is $446.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $410.29. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $485.39. The stock has a market cap of $88.41 billion, a PE ratio of 52.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $456.00.

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.