LGT Group Foundation Sells 2,160 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

LGT Group Foundation trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,160 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $265,285,000 after buying an additional 14,344 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 7,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,018,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $482.55 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $458.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $417.64. The stock has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a PE ratio of 52.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.