Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 38,014 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 175,728 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 38,014 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.10% of Moody's worth $83,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $478.52. 663,067 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 769,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $86.09 billion, a PE ratio of 42.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $452.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.19.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $520.87.

Moody's Company 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.