Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $8.56 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 38.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 42.3% in the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,052.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 5,283 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 216,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,738,000 after buying an additional 32,483 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 97.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,655,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Moody’s by 31.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current 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 $495.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $473.62 and a 200-day moving average of $452.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29.

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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.