Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,000 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI started 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. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $500.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.66. 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 company has a market cap of $90.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $358.49 and a 12-month high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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 firm 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.