Raymond James Trust N.A. Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 106.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $473.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $451.25. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $358.49 and a 52 week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio 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.