Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 3,105 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,603 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,105 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $9,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $476.96. The stock had a trading volume of 743,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,018. The firm has a market cap of $86.85 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $463.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.42. 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 twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $490.18.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $477.08.

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.