CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $81.72 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 172,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $81,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in Moody’s by 510.8% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after buying an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,376,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE MCO opened at $424.40 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $465.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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 reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535 in the last quarter. 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.