Sunbelt Securities Inc. Raises Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 101.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,792,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 106.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 221,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 43.1% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $489.02 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $88.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.66, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $478.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $460.95. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $501.46.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.