Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $1.98 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. abrdn plc boosted its stake in Moody’s by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 143,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,230,000 after buying an additional 33,540 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 946 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $372,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,100,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related 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 value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Moody’s 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 value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MCO traded up $3.38 on Monday, hitting $470.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 479,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,658. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $438.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $407.06. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $471.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

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.