UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,369,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,244 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.76% of Moody’s worth $650,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

MCO opened at $500.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.74, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $358.49 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $474.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.33.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James cut Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.