Assetmark Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $482.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $474.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $446.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $350.38 and a 1-year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.