National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,768 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 25,577 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.10% of Moody's worth $86,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 44.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,100,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 164.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 890.2% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,159 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 4,638 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 37,741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 4,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $29.00 on Thursday, reaching $441.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,164,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,499. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day moving average is $483.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MCO shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. Company 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.