Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Cantillon Capital Management LLC

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 442,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,884 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Moody’s worth $210,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Moody’s by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 24.9% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,584,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $85,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $529.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.68. The stock has a market cap of $94.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Seaport Research Partners raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.