Cerity Partners LLC Has $19.02 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $19,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in 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. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased 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 valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $358.49 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a PE ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $473.62 and its 200-day moving average is $452.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given 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 payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s 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.