Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Has $8.61 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA cut its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,178 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,397 shares during the period. Moody's comprises approximately 2.2% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's holdings in Moody's were worth $8,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,810 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $265,285,000 after purchasing an additional 14,344 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.1 %

Moody's stock traded down $5.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $478.59. The stock had a trading volume of 762,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,199. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $459.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $490.18. The firm has a market cap of $87.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Moody's's payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $465.00.

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.