Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 16.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 995 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $287,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Associated Banc Corp bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $4,807,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,370,620. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total value of $99,299.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,894 shares in the company, valued at $964,481.62. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,539 shares of company stock worth $5,619,222. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price target (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $505.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants.

Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.

The company traces its roots to 1900, when John Moody began publishing financial analyses of railroad securities.