Skye Global Management LP Has $94.21 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Skye Global Management LP decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 27.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 198,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 74,578 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for approximately 2.3% of Skye Global Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Skye Global Management LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $94,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 7,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,419,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,369,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $650,187,000 after acquiring an additional 33,244 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 27,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,992,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.4% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 10,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,042,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction 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 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.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $500.88 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $358.49 and a one year high of $503.95. The stock has a market cap of $90.76 billion, a PE ratio of 45.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $474.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 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.