BAM Wealth Management LLC Invests $871,000 in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

BAM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,828 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $135,968,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Moody’s by 223.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $523.58 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $93.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.09, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.82.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.94.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.