Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 8.4% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Bretton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,939,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,975,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,678,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $479.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $474.05 and a 200-day moving average of $446.54. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $344.60 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s 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.