Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 753 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 31.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,184 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 289.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Moody's by 7.9% in the 1st 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. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $521.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $498.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.23. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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%. Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock worth $4,382,984 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.