Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,321 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $914,721,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $643,191,000 after buying an additional 33,024 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,126,000 after buying an additional 168,528 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,188,000 after buying an additional 59,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $226,880,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total transaction of $890,237.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at $26,234,163. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total value of $99,299.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,481.62. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,282 shares of company stock valued at $6,509,459. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $508.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $478.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $466.73. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $87.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants. Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.