Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $473.31 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.55. 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 has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $352.17 and a 1-year high of $495.10.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.