Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by General Partner Inc.

General Partner Inc. reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up approximately 1.1% of General Partner Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. General Partner Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 567.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $2,792,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO traded up $3.12 on Friday, hitting $475.96. The company had a trading volume of 54,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,804. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The stock has a market cap of $86.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $478.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.06.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.