Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,584,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,414,000 after purchasing an additional 93,244 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 19.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its stake in Moody’s by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 43,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE MCO opened at $529.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $504.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.68. The stock has a market cap of $94.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.