Parallel Advisors LLC Has $1.77 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,502,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Bank of America increased their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $476.96 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $463.00 and its 200-day moving average is $420.42. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $490.18. The company has a market capitalization of $87.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.