Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 49 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd 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. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,230,000 after buying an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Moody’s by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,709,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $719,635,000 after acquiring an additional 78,782 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $471.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $473.76 and a 200-day moving average of $449.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 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 52 week low of $355.77 and a 52 week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

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.