Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock: Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd Trims Stake

Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 23.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,573 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 0.8% of Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kenora Financial LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings 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. increased its position in Moody’s by 1.2% in the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 2.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the third quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $488.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.84. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.