Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Buys 88 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 851 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of MCO traded down $8.41 on Friday, reaching $475.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 689,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,927. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $490.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a PE ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 3.04 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $457.61 and a 200-day moving average of $416.36.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.