Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Position Lowered by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,798 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $25,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,552,000 after buying an additional 83,872 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,943,418,000 after buying an additional 69,455 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $987,524,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

MCO stock opened at $523.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $505.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.83. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho upped their price target on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.