Geller Advisors LLC Has $831,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Geller Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. Geller Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during 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. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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, Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % 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 Price Performance

MCO opened at $494.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $457.92. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company 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 earned $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.