Baillie Gifford & Co. Increases Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 738,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.41% of Moody’s worth $351,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $135,968,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after buying an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 223.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after buying an additional 184,598 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

MCO opened at $523.58 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $505.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

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 dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Company 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.