Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,908 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 35,023 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Moody's worth $67,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,502,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. grew its position in Moody's by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,706,096,000 after buying an additional 1,678,594 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's during the second quarter worth approximately $141,336,000. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $4.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $487.74. 822,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 730,769. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $488.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $451.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.08.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.