Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 50.3% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $2,967,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the first quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 53,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,906,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 42.2% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 4.6% during the first quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,035,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

MCO opened at $468.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $478.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.61. 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 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. 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. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

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.