Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. 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 one year low of $358.49 and a one year high of $495.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.86. The company has a market cap of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.