Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $473.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $450.86. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $358.49 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

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.