Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock: Lido Advisors LLC Boosts Stake

Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,905 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Kenora Financial LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1.5% in the third quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 3.8% during the first quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 1.2% during the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 2.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Moody’s from $597.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total transaction of $890,237.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,234,163. This trade represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total transaction of $99,299.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,481.62. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 13,282 shares of company stock valued at $6,509,459 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $507.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $87.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants. Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.