Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,364 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $37,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 4.4% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 22,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,421,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $449,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.0% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 90,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,880,000 after acquiring an additional 6,687 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $213,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,539 shares of company stock worth $5,619,222. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.63.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $505.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $477.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.10. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.92 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants.

Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.

The company traces its roots to 1900, when John Moody began publishing financial analyses of railroad securities.