Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 219 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8 %

MCO opened at $479.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $474.15 and a 200-day moving average of $446.31. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.60 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.