Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 84,814 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84,814 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Moody’s worth $117,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 133.9% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $141,336,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.7 %

MCO stock opened at $478.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $473.36 and its 200 day moving average is $450.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.65, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $358.49 and a 12-month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased 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 note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target 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 Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.