Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 245,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84,814 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $117,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,767,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in Moody’s by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.6% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 10,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

MCO opened at $478.02 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 43.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Moody’s Company 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.