Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,772 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $14,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Moody’s by 20.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% 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. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $506.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.49. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $87.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

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.