Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,226 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $62,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter worth approximately $4,534,000. Quest Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 9.7% during the third quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Quantamental Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $420,000. Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ now owns 183,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,708,000 after purchasing an additional 18,480 shares during the period. Finally, Keebeck Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Keebeck Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 90.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $146,580.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,488.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $146,580.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,491 shares in the company, valued at $452,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at $19,344,005.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,701 shares of company stock valued at $7,046,117 over the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $285.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.16 and a fifty-two week high of $346.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $304.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.22.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 62.08% and a net margin of 25.13%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Moody’s from $289.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.67.

About Moody’s

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Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the following segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA). The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities and commercial paper programs.