AXS Investments LLC Sells 177 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AXS Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Moody’s by 98,060.7% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,127,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,215 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $425,827,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 10,369,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,173,268,000 after buying an additional 1,157,192 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,288,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $795,918,000 after buying an additional 920,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,112,947,000 after buying an additional 914,530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $346.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $381.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $332.00 to $318.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $399.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.76, for a total transaction of $893,034.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,378,805.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.76, for a total transaction of $893,034.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,378,805.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.88, for a total transaction of $294,969.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 628 shares in the company, valued at $212,188.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,903 shares of company stock valued at $6,270,468 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $356.67. 865,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 761,126. The stock has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $325.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.05. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $272.70 and a 12 month high of $363.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 55.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Moody’s 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.