Canoe Financial LP Purchases 353,431 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 510.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for approximately 2.9% of Canoe Financial LP's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Canoe Financial LP owned about 0.23% of Moody's worth $200,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

MCO traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $475.74. 768,378 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,859. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The company has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $480.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $471.06.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $506.14.

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.