Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 18.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised 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 valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $141,336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $499.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $358.49 and a 52 week high of $501.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $452.99. 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 company has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Company 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.