Sarasin & Partners LLP Increases Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 18.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 428,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,118 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for about 1.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.23% of Moody’s worth $180,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.9% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $466.72. 429,691 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,284. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $438.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $407.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $469.78.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 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, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.00.

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.