Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Scotia Capital Inc.

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 14.3%, owning a total of 24,311 shares worth approximately $11.32 million after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.39, and achieved a revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, marking a year-over-year increase of 4.5%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94, implying an annualized dividend of $3.76 with a yield of 0.8%, to be paid to shareholders on September 5th.

Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,311 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing 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.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's in the first quarter worth $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Motco raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 581.3% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.6%

MCO traded down $2.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $514.58. The company had a trading volume of 606,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 804,063. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.13. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $92.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation 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, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

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.