BNP Paribas Has $5.63 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

BNP Paribas boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in 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 during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $499.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.99. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $358.49 and a 1 year high of $501.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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 lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.