Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $431.41 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $458.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.35. The company has a market capitalization of $77.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

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.