Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 97.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.8 %

MCO stock opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $358.49 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a PE ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm 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 revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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 yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.