Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $497.58 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $474.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The company has a market cap of $90.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value 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 represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’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 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. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.