Cantillon Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cantillon Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 442,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,884 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $210,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.0% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 693 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE MCO opened at $529.83 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $504.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.68. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $94.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.