Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $22.36 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53,496 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Bank of America upped their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.50.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $11.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $448.75. 884,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,001. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $399.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $458.24.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.