Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Raised by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 74,000.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Moody’s worth $343,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,867,000 after acquiring an additional 119,450 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.1% during the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,230,000 after buying an additional 173,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $466.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $478.15 and its 200-day moving average is $437.61. The firm has a market cap of $85.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company 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 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Moody’s 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.