Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,026,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Moody's by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after acquiring an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Moody's by 8.4% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 225,846 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Moody's by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $491.55. The company had a trading volume of 445,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,687. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.51. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $89.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $500.00.

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.