Invictus Private Wealth LLC Trims Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Invictus Private Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Invictus Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $462.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $475.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $83.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $329.72 and a one year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,043 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,335 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.