Tower Bridge Advisors Trims Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Tower Bridge Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $473.31 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $352.17 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.02. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued 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 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.