Entropy Technologies LP Invests $2.79 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,792,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Motco increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Moody’s by 9.3% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $478.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $474.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $444.89. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $342.16 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Moody’s

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.