Newport Trust Company LLC Decreases Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,685 shares during the quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC owned about 0.16% of Moody’s worth $135,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $204,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 72.3% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $523.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $505.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.83. The company has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.94.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.