Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $7.62 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 hyperlink. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,043 shares of company stock worth $1,857,335 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $458.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $475.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $442.43. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $329.72 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

About Moody’s

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.