Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Raised by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 62,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,816,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $140,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MCO opened at $468.86 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $478.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.61. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid 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 yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s 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.