Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $7.62 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $594,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 3.0% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 36,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,223,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,043 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,335 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $458.41 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $329.72 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.29. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $475.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $442.43.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Moody’s 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.