Cibc World Markets Corp Has $11.82 Million Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,978 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 22,786 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $11,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 7,021 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $261,000. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in Moody's by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 1,991 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 4,750 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 12,219 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,784,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE MCO traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $459.73. 1,091,114 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 836,191. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $82.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $485.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.65. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.