Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 21,030 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.05% of Moody’s worth $46,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Oppenheimer increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.43.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

MCO opened at $396.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $476.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $476.98.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.