Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Newport Trust Company LLC

Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,685 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $135,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $135,968,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Moody’s by 223.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after buying an additional 184,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 91.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 235,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,987,000 after buying an additional 112,105 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $523.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $505.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.