Cantillon Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 446,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,968 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $224,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Moody’s by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $485.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $483.63. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Moody’s from $534.00 to $521.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.