Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by D.B. Root & Company LLC

D.B. Root & Company LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 42.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 832 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Moody’s by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 35,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $461.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $83.56 billion, a PE ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $475.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $443.17. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $332.05 and a twelve 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.