Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lowered its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises 1.5% of Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $24,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.5% in the second quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 851 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 39,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 24,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,205,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $8.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $475.44. 689,097 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 728,927. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $490.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $457.61 and a 200 day moving average of $416.36. The stock has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.00.

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.