Cigna Investments Inc. New Lowers Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cigna Investments Inc. New decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 52.2% in 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 last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 8.9% in 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 during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 21,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 119,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE MCO opened at $456.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $317.54 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $476.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $440.88. The stock has a market cap of $82.69 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock valued at $2,110,119. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.