Hhlr Advisors LTD. Has $713,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hhlr Advisors LTD. cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 62.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,528 shares during the quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $500.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $358.68 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $474.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.