Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 593,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,609 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $284,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $501.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’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 value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. 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 directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MCO opened at $489.02 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $478.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.52. 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 company has a market capitalization of $88.61 billion, a PE ratio of 44.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.