Edge Financial Advisors LLC Invests $239,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 504 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.37 on Wednesday, hitting $461.87. The company had a trading volume of 51,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,391. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $303.98 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $440.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.