5,442 Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,442 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,583,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adero Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $81,012,000 after acquiring an additional 10,790 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 567.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 57.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,456 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 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. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $471.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 523,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 738,172. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.22. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.10, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $355.77 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.