531 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Purchased by Cable Hill Partners LLC

Cable Hill Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 531 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 14.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 29,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,608,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 10.3% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% during the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $482.09 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $474.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.54. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $350.38 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.35 billion, a PE ratio of 44.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.