Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 13,537 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,537 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Moody’s worth $143,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $20,507,000. Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 35.4% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,425,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 4,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $493.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $477.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.11%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.