Achmea Investment Management B.V. Grows Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,574 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $20,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.6% in the 2nd 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. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.7% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $465.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody'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 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $478.45. The stock had a trading volume of 678,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,908. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $461.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $418.76. The stock has a market cap of $87.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.25, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

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.