Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Increases Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $500.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.66. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.