AlTi Global Inc. Takes $1.16 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,161,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $141,336,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 41,992.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 279,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,826,000 after buying an additional 279,253 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,781,000 after buying an additional 254,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $1,228,382,000 after buying an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $476.15 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $86.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.36. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the 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 owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $477.08.

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.