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

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 600 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4,900.0% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 90.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.82, for a total value of $862,635.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,628,574.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.04, for a total transaction of $100,694.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,084.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.82, for a total transaction of $862,635.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,628,574.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,065 shares of company stock valued at $8,216,543 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $346.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $300.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $329.56.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $3.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $344.45. 128,051 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 761,617. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $342.76 and its 200 day moving average is $323.57. The firm has a market cap of $63.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $230.16 and a 1 year high of $363.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.07. Moody’s had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 55.98%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.