PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Cuts Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,799 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Moody’s worth $74,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James cut Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $468.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $473.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $355.77 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The firm has a market cap of $84.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.