Select Equity Group L.P. Invests $49.07 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 116,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $49,072,000. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 0.06% of Moody’s at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares during the period. Motco increased its position in Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after acquiring an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 59,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $474.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.05. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $495.10. The firm has a market cap of $86.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid 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 (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

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.