International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys 253,806 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 21,256.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 255,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 253,806 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 0.9% of International Assets Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $115,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,757,000. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1.1% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in Moody’s by 7.5% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 4,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 9.9% in the third quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 311 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,792. The trade was a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,336 shares of company stock worth $5,984,081. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Moody’s from $597.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Evercore increased their price target on Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.63.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $493.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $477.31 and its 200-day moving average is $467.63. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 25.11%.

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.