Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock: Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Holdings

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 645,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,724 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.37% of Moody’s worth $293,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,874,000 after acquiring an additional 72,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 2.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Moody’s by 20.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Moody’s by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total value of $890,237.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at $26,234,163. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,792. The trade was a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 13,282 shares of company stock worth $6,509,459 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $507.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.11%.

Moody’s Company 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.