LRI Investments LLC Reduces Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

LRI Investments LLC cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 269 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 681 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Vanderbilt University acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,428,000. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 3,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % 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. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

MCO stock opened at $491.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $476.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.51. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a market cap of $89.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.