Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 392.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 119,450 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings 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 valued at $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $487.77.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.2 %

MCO stock opened at $475.11 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The company has a market cap of $86.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $474.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $432.90.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.