Everpar Advisors LLC Sells 26 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Everpar Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 661 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $479.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $480.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $470.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

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.