Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after buying an additional 72,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during 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 worth $643,191,000 after buying an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 raised 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 acquiring an additional 168,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 acquiring an additional 59,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $528.11 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $477.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $467.27. The company has a market capitalization of $91.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 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 posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This represents a 53.75% 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Phillips sold 195 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider owned 1,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,481.62. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 11,249 shares of company stock valued at $5,466,686 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.