Short Interest in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Drops By 20.8%

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a decrease of 20.8% from the October 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 753,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $500.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $474.60 and its 200-day moving average is $454.37. The firm has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a one year low of $358.68 and a one year high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s 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 $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.