Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 29 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 133.9% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,230,000 after purchasing an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Moody’s stock opened at $482.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.03, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $350.38 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $474.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $446.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

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.