J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 48.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 868 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 5.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,891 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 16.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.1% in the second quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,003,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,480,000 after buying an additional 108,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 13,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $490.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $464.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $421.88. The stock has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

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.