NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Has $17.29 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lessened its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 10.6% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 232.6% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 99,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,904,000 after buying an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,272,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $18.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $453.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 252,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,563. The company has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $480.00 and a 200-day moving average of $468.91.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.