Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 4,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 3,053 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in Moody’s by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 37,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $321,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 58,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,633,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,093,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was 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.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $497.58 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The company has a market capitalization of $90.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $474.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

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.