Windacre Partnership LLC Cuts Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Windacre Partnership LLC lessened its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 28.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,176,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 460,000 shares during the period. Moody's makes up approximately 7.4% of Windacre Partnership LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Windacre Partnership LLC owned about 0.65% of Moody's worth $558,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. CWM LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 52.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Moody's by 15.1% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Moody's by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 29,925 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Moody's Price Performance

MCO traded up $3.60 on Friday, reaching $494.76. The stock had a trading volume of 642,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 645,336. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $476.04 and a 200-day moving average of $456.75. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The company has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.