Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 73.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,632 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $914,721,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after buying an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5,102.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $124,860,000 after buying an additional 280,712 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 275.2% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 319,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $144,884,000 after buying an additional 234,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 195.1% during the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 260,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,894,000 after buying an additional 172,077 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $493.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $477.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 25.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,336 shares of company stock valued at $5,984,081. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.