Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $518.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.39.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

About Moody’s

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.