SRN Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

SRN Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after acquiring an additional 723,721 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $141,336,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Moody’s by 41,992.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 279,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,826,000 after purchasing an additional 279,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $462.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $84.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.52, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $478.06 and a 200-day moving average of $438.56.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.