National Bank of Canada FI Increases Position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 25.6%, owning approximately 0.13% of the company, valued at about $106.9 million.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had a revenue of $1.90 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annual yield of 0.7%, to be paid on September 5th.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,559 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,791 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.13% of Moody's worth $106,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st 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 raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco raised its position in shares of 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. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade 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 worth $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MCO traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $515.63. The stock had a trading volume of 375,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 863,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's payout ratio is 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.