Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 392.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $265,285,000 after purchasing an additional 14,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Richard G. Steele 1,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $12.95 on Wednesday, reaching $461.97. 92,979 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,382. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $462.66. The company has a market cap of $84.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $428.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.05.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Barclays upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.50.

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.