Sunflower Bank N.A. Raises Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Free Report) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $5.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $475.11. 527,478 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,143. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a market cap of $86.76 billion, a PE ratio of 51.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $474.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $432.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $487.77.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MCO

About Moody’s

(Free Report)

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.

Read More