Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 7,867 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,867 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $29,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $500.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.74, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $358.49 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $474.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.66.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.