KBC Group NV Cuts Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 992 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $39,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,357,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $482.09 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $350.38 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $474.05 and its 200 day moving average is $446.54.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.