Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 865 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Motco increased its position in Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position 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 valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,191,000 after buying an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Moody’s by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,673,000 after buying an additional 21,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,612 shares of company stock valued at $2,110,119 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $461.87. The stock had a trading volume of 51,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,391. 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 50 day moving average of $477.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $440.08. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $303.98 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm has a market cap of $84.34 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Moody’s Company 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.