Axa S.A. Has $52.66 Million Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AXA S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,244 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 38,298 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned 0.06% of Moody's worth $52,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $470.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,999. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $446.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

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.