National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 66,768 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,345 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 66,768 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.11% of Moody's worth $98,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $3.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $494.76. 642,224 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 645,336. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business's fifty day moving average price is $476.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $457.92. The company has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.18, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by 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.