Generate Investment Management Ltd Acquires 3,494 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,771 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,494 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $11,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody's in the first quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 114.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $460.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $6.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $481.72. The stock had a trading volume of 793,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,059. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $452.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $490.18.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) 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 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

About Moody's

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.