Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 881 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

MCO stock opened at $499.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $358.49 and a twelve month high of $501.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.99.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s 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, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

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.