Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Cantillon Capital Management LLC

Cantillon Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,545 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,072 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.26% of Moody's worth $223,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 52.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 204.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,371,000 after acquiring an additional 12,588 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $141,336,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MCO traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $468.72. 545,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 737,310. The firm has a market cap of $84.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.84. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $355.77 and a 12-month 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.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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.