Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 3,537 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $38,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:MCO opened at $429.91 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $482.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $487.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.