NS Partners Ltd Buys 1,395 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,746 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises approximately 1.5% of NS Partners Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. NS Partners Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $36,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Moody's by 8.4% during 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in 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 valued at $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 11.1% during the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $686,230,000 after buying an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James cut Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $5.46 on Wednesday, hitting $474.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 418,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,893. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $358.49 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a market capitalization of $85.93 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.84.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.