PineStone Asset Management Inc. Sells 793,229 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,483,827 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 793,229 shares during the period. Moody's makes up 6.8% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned 0.81% of Moody's worth $704,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $5,613,867,000 after acquiring an additional 119,450 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Moody's by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its stake 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. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 4.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,709,627 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $719,635,000 after buying an additional 78,782 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $456.36. 579,337 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $82.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $317.54 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $476.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $440.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

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.