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

Lido Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Markel Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 212,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,865,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 30,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $399.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $381.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moody’s from $332.00 to $318.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $344.00 to $333.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.54.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.82, for a total value of $862,635.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,628,574.70. 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, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.82, for a total transaction of $862,635.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,628,574.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 2,754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.38, for a total value of $931,898.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,396 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,038.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,903 shares of company stock valued at $6,270,468. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $356.67 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $325.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.45. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $272.70 and a 1 year high of $363.19. The company has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.08. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.27% and a net margin of 26.42%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

About Moody’s

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.