Empowered Funds LLC Has $3.69 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,780 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,831 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 14.8% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $208,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 165.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 12.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,724 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 0.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,767,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $468.72. The company had a trading volume of 545,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,310. 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 50-day simple moving average of $473.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.84. The company has a market capitalization of $84.93 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $355.77 and a one year high of $495.10.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody'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. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Moody's

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.