Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $219,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,301,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 221,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,238,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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 accessible through this link. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. 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 accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,043 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,335. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.4 %

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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $475.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $442.43. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $329.72 and a 1 year 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio 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.