Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec decreased its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 155,111 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 19,518 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.09% of Moody's worth $73,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Moody's by 10.9% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,707 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 204.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,371,000 after acquiring an additional 12,588 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 551 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $500.00.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Moody's
In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Shares of MCO opened at $499.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $358.68 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $474.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.05%.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Moody's, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Moody's wasn't on the list.
While Moody's currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.