Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Holdings Lowered by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,176 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.13% of Moody’s worth $99,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,897,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $226,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Moody’s by 806.7% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $1,083,000. Finally, Ironvine Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 85,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $514.47 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $477.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total transaction of $890,237.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,234,163. This trade represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael West sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.23, for a total transaction of $103,199.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,328,572.17. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,282 shares of company stock worth $6,509,459. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.