Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 11,025 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 118,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,025 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 2.0% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Moody’s worth $56,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $35,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $466.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $437.61. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.