Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 2,534 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,866 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,534 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Moody's were worth $21,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $8.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $475.44. The stock had a trading volume of 689,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,927. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $457.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.93. The company has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $490.18.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $465.00.

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.