Pitcairn Co. Sells 101 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pitcairn Co. lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 901 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Haverford Trust Co raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $499.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $358.49 and a 52-week high of $501.21. The stock has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $473.95 and its 200-day moving average is $452.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.