Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Sells 175 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $594,000. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 44.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $465.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.36 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $334.78 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $475.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $443.17.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.