Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires New Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 45,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,507,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,897,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $226,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,083,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in 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 valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $506.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $477.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $87.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.92 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 25.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,792. This represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s 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.