National Pension Service Acquires 42,892 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 344,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,892 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Moody’s worth $163,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $594,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $393,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 36,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,223,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.4 %

Moody’s stock opened at $458.41 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $475.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $442.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $329.72 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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 company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,043 shares of company stock worth $1,857,335 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.