Scotia Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 5,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Motco grew its stake in Moody’s by 581.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE MCO opened at $501.30 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $492.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody’s Profile

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.