Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 877,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 397,747 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Moody’s worth $416,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $461.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $83.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. 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 52-week low of $332.05 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $443.17.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.