Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $273,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 8.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after buying an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,709,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $719,635,000 after buying an additional 78,782 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $499.98 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.68 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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 firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of 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. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Moody’s

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.