Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Lessened by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Moody’s by 19.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 9.3% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 19.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 106,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,493 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $475.74 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $470.75. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

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.