Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 58 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $477.18 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $337.80 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $474.46 and a 200 day moving average of $444.44. The stock has a market cap of $86.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its 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 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 revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.