Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 4,638 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 890.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,638 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 204.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,371,000 after buying an additional 12,588 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Moody’s by 20.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $497.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $90.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $455.05. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

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.