Harbour Investments Inc. Increases Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 17.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 14.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 165.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $266,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 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 issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $473.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.55. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $352.17 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. 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.