Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 348 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 164.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $1,872,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,552,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 8.6% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $499.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.49 and a fifty-two week high of $501.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $473.95 and its 200 day moving average is $452.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.