Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 216 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $291,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,263,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $490.04 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $434.56. The company has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 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 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $488.46.

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.