Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,895 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,613,867,000 after buying an additional 119,450 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Moody's by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in Moody's by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 11.1% during the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $686,230,000 after purchasing an additional 173,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $11.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $477.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 720,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 682,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $86.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $474.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $444.01. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $337.80 and a twelve month high of $495.10.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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. 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody's from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Moody's from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.