BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $84.36 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,880 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $84,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $474.54 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $85.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $358.49 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.02.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.