Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Increased by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,106,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8,378.0% in the 3rd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 10,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MCO traded down $4.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $462.80. 481,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 742,372. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $84.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.48, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $478.14 and its 200-day moving average is $437.82. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 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.