Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 373,634 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,694 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Moody's worth $177,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Conning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Moody's by 0.5% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $3.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $479.42. 909,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,987. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $344.60 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $474.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $446.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.71%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, 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 owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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.