Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 27.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises approximately 3.0% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 20.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 49.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.4% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,357,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 15.5% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 7.9% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $485.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $495.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $483.63. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.87.

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.