Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 567.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,781 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $38,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,228,382,000 after buying an additional 225,846 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $833,450,000 after acquiring an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its position in Moody's by 11.1% in the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $686,230,000 after acquiring an additional 173,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $8.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $473.31. 653,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 739,132. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $352.17 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The firm has a market cap of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average is $473.97 and its 200 day moving average is $447.48.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Moody's from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $500.00.

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.