Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Boosted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,790 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Moody’s worth $81,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 165.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 14.8% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 12.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $473.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $448.02. The company has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $352.17 and a 1-year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

About Moody’s

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.