Boston Financial Mangement LLC Sells 42,071 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,699 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 42,071 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $24,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.5% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 increased their price objective on Moody's from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody's Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE MCO traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $460.50. 674,994 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,673. The firm has a market cap of $84.09 billion, a PE ratio of 50.51, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $439.49.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119. 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.