Quest Partners LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,583,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Adero Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 6.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,012,000 after purchasing an additional 10,790 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 567.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 57.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $473.31 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $352.17 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $473.97 and a 200 day moving average of $448.55. The firm has a market cap of $85.76 billion, a PE ratio of 43.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average 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.