Ingalls & Snyder LLC Has $14.56 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 480.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,400 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $14,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,591,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 91,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,387,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,522,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3 %

Moody’s stock traded down $1.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $495.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,900. 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 has a market cap of $89.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $474.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $455.05. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.