Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $10.59 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $456.36 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $317.54 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $476.32 and its 200-day moving average is $441.84. The firm has a market cap of $82.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Moody’s 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 value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,043 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,335 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

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.