Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $985.12 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.15% of Moody’s worth $985,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $141,336,000. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Moody’s by 41,992.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 279,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,826,000 after buying an additional 279,253 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $474.54 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $85.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

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 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 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MCO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

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.