Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $464.45 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $84.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.70, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $466.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $434.77 and a 200-day moving average of $405.51.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.00.

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.