NBT Bank N A NY Cuts Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NBT Bank N A NY cut its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 802 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $285,000. Blue Fin Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 4,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,040,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 19.7% during the second quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 8,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $1,347,000. Finally, WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $1,506,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $487.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $451.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $412.76. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $488.64. The stock has a market cap of $88.82 billion, a PE ratio of 53.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.00.

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.