Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 20.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 137,714 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 23,395 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.08% of Moody's worth $65,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Chiron Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,075,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 12.6% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Moody's by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 452,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,976,000 after buying an additional 67,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 1.2 %

Moody's stock traded up $6.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $497.53. 536,705 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,176. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $477.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.08. 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 company has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.60, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.30. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Moody's from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

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

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.