Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,493 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.06% of Moody’s worth $44,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MCO opened at $494.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $467.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.85. The stock has a market cap of $90.32 billion, a PE ratio of 54.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $477.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s 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.