Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 27,364 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,364 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $37,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,874,000 after acquiring an additional 72,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after acquiring an additional 33,024 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 20.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total transaction of $99,299.85. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,481.62. This represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 11,539 shares of company stock valued at $5,619,222 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $505.89 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $477.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $467.10. The company has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 25.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants.

Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.

The company traces its roots to 1900, when John Moody began publishing financial analyses of railroad securities.