Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,514 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Conning Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.5% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5 %

MCO stock opened at $456.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $476.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $441.37. The company has a market capitalization of $82.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $317.54 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.