615 Shares in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Purchased by Ballast Inc.

Ballast Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 615 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $515.63 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $478.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. Insiders own 0.14% 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.