Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Increases Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 20.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 416 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.50.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $20.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $440.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,326,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,566. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $462.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $427.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $402.20. The company has a market capitalization of $80.22 billion, a PE ratio of 48.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 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, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Richard G. Steele 1,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.