Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Boosted by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $473.62 and its 200-day moving average is $452.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.49 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.