Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,717 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after acquiring an additional 723,721 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $500.88 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $358.49 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The company has a market capitalization of $90.76 billion, a PE ratio of 45.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $474.28 and a 200-day moving average of $453.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s quarterly 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, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of 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 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.