Lingotto Investment Management LLP Grows Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,522 shares during the quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in 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 valued at $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares during the period. Motco increased its stake in Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $2,967,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer upped 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. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $464.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $421.88. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $490.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Moody’s Company 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.