Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Short Interest Down 20.8% in November

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a decline of 20.8% from the October 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 753,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $499.98. 507,201 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 684,093. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $358.68 and a 1 year high of $503.95. 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 company has a market cap of $90.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $474.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.73.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target 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. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Company 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.