BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $84.36 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,880 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.10% of Moody’s worth $84,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 9.3% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 204.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,371,000 after buying an additional 12,588 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $141,336,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $474.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.49 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

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.