Lido Advisors LLC Purchases 2,905 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 20.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,905 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total transaction of $99,299.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,894 shares in the company, valued at $964,481.62. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 13,282 shares of company stock worth $6,509,459 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5%

Moody’s stock opened at $507.08 on Friday. 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 $87.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $478.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $466.79. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Bank of America cut their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.63.

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.