Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $7.65 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,626 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $15,642,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 78.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,764,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MCO opened at $494.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.18, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $476.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $457.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 trade represents a 0.46 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

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.