Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 6.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $81,012,000 after purchasing an additional 10,790 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 2,831 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Moody’s by 7.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,263,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MCO opened at $473.31 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $352.17 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $473.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s 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 owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.