Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,839 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,805 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

MCO opened at $494.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $476.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $457.63. The stock has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.