Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 465,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $196,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a PEG ratio of 2.98 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 price of $464.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.88. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $490.18.

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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 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.