576 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Moody’s by 8.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,450,000 after acquiring an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,709,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $719,635,000 after acquiring an additional 78,782 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $499.98 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $358.68 and a twelve month high of $503.95. 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 market cap of $90.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $474.60 and its 200-day moving average is $455.05.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.