5,884 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Purchased by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,792,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,425,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 64.7% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 234,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,089,000 after purchasing an additional 92,073 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $478.45 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $342.16 and a one year high of $495.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $474.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $444.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.