Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 98 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $140,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,100,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,864,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 9,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,388,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $458.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $440.21. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $303.98 and a 12-month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. Research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

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.