Moody's Corporation $MCO Stock: Hikari Power Ltd Trims Stake

Key Points

• Hikari Power cut its Moody’s stake by 74.5% in the third quarter, selling 24,000 shares and retaining 8,220 shares valued at $3.73 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 13 analysts rate MCO a Buy and seven a Hold, giving it a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $552.63.
• Moody’s quarterly results fell short of estimates, with EPS of $4.14 versus $4.25 expected and revenue of $2.02 billion versus $2.08 billion; revenue was nevertheless up 0.8% year over year.

Hikari Power Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 74.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,220 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 24,000 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises 0.9% of Hikari Power Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Hikari Power Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the second quarter valued at $37,897,000. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Moody's by 0.3% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $226,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 806.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,031,000 after buying an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,083,000. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,483,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $552.63.

Moody's Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $503.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $477.21 and a 200-day moving average of $467.33. The stock has a market cap of $86.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody's had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, insider Jason D. Phillips sold 195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total value of $99,299.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,481.62. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,249 shares of company stock valued at $5,466,686. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody's Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.

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