Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 5,733 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 27.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,733 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings 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. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $480.66 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $473.43 and a 200-day moving average of $451.64. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 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. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $358.49 and a 52-week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal 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 on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.