PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $74.12 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,183 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,799 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Moody's worth $74,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Moody's by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Moody's by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock traded up $5.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $474.54. 934,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,184. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $500.00.

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.