Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,046 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third 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. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $499.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $474.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $358.68 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.