Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Short Interest Down 20.8% in November

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a drop of 20.8% from the October 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 753,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $499.98 on Monday. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $358.68 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $474.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $455.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $90.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,540,000 after acquiring an additional 5,701 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Moody’s by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 204.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,371,000 after purchasing an additional 12,588 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 69.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 551 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.