Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Cidel Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Cidel Asset Management increased its Moody’s stake by 35.4% in the third quarter, owning 25,159 shares valued at approximately $11.4 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 92.11% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and seven Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $552.63.
• Moody’s reported quarterly EPS of $4.14 and revenue of $2.02 billion, both below analyst expectations, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, representing a 0.8% yield.

Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 35.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,159 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,573 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $11,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth $37,897,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Moody's in the second quarter worth $1,083,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in Moody's by 0.3% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $226,880,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Moody's by 806.7% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,031,000 after buying an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the second quarter valued at about $4,483,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael L. West sold 9,946 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,336 shares of company stock valued at $5,984,081 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody's from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Moody's from $597.00 to $595.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody's from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock opened at $493.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $477.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.63.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.11%.

About Moody's

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.

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