Shum Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock traded down $0.74 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $493.29. 56,901 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 735,743. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $358.49 and a 52 week high of $496.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $473.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, 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 value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.