Trium Capital LLP Has $5.53 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Trium Capital LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 27.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,127 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,936 shares during the period. Moody's comprises approximately 0.7% of Trium Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Trium Capital LLP's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,706,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,594 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 225,846 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Moody's by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $833,450,000 after acquiring an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody'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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company'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 directly owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,647.20. 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 up $7.11 on Monday, hitting $482.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 778,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,237. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $490.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $458.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $465.00.

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.