CIBC Asset Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $518.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $485.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company 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.