Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Boosted by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 17.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,644 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,407 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $15,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Moody's by 10.8% during the second quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 8,762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,688,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Tobam grew its position in Moody's by 38.4% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 43.8% in the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 955 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 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 the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $4.68 on Friday, hitting $487.74. 651,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 730,770. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $488.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $450.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.85. The company has a market cap of $89.06 billion, a PE ratio of 53.25, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid 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 is Friday, August 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $456.00.

Moody's 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.

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