Bretton Capital Management LLC Makes New $3.94 Million Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bretton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,939,000. Moody’s makes up about 3.8% of Bretton Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $479.42 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $474.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $446.54. The company has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a PE ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $344.60 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

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.