Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.29% of Moody's worth $1,107,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,699,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter worth about $2,583,000. Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,698 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $81,012,000 after acquiring an additional 10,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MCO traded up $5.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $474.24. 418,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,893. The stock's 50-day moving average is $473.45 and its 200-day moving average is $449.84. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.49 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The company has a market cap of $85.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James lowered Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.