E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Invests $53,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conning Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $458.90 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $477.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $440.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $303.98 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $83.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,612 shares of company stock worth $2,110,119 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated 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 lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.