Cross Staff Investments Inc Purchases 100 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Motco lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after acquiring an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Moody’s by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,673,000 after purchasing an additional 21,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’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 directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $466.94 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $478.15 and a 200 day moving average of $437.61.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.