Fmr LLC Raises Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fmr LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,123,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 38.3% in the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 18,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,564,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 42.3% during the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,052.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,746,000 after buying an additional 5,283 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 216,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,738,000 after buying an additional 32,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 97.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a PE ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $473.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $452.29. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.