Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 23.4% in the first quarter, leaving it with 75,790 shares valued at approximately $35.3 million.
• Moody's reported an EPS of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $1.90 billion, also above forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, which will be paid on September 5th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.8%.

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,790 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 23,090 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Moody's were worth $35,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares in the last quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $622,076,000 after purchasing an additional 25,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,086,565 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $506,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE MCO traded down $1.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $515.82. The stock had a trading volume of 62,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,029. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $478.13.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

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.