General Partner Inc. Sells 500 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

General Partner Inc. decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 1.7% of General Partner Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. General Partner Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.1% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $328.00 to $362.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $300.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Moody’s from $350.00 to $404.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.56.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $343.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $230.16 and a 1 year high of $363.19. The firm has a market cap of $62.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.23, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.98% and a net margin of 25.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 282 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.24, for a total value of $99,049.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 65,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,124,939.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.24, for a total value of $99,049.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 65,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,124,939.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 15,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.97, for a total value of $5,168,423.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,293.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,065 shares of company stock worth $8,216,543. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.