Patton Fund Management Inc. Has $4.40 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Patton Fund Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $488.46.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $3.92 on Thursday, reaching $486.12. 212,625 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,366. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $476.50 and a 200-day moving average of $434.56. The company has a market capitalization of $88.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.50, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business 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 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.