13,445 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,381,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $358.49 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.