Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 368,807 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,052,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 368,807 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $973,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO opened at $478.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $474.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $445.61. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $342.16 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.