QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 5,349 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,107 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,349 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $7,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in Moody's by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $833,450,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 173,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,043 shares of company stock valued at $1,857,335. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of 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 increased their price target on Moody's from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Moody's from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $3.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $462.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 451,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,607. The firm has a market cap of $83.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $329.72 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $475.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $443.05.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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%. Moody's's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody's's payout ratio is 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.