Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third 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. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

Moody’s stock opened at $478.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.21. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.