Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 538,108 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 85,790 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.30% of Moody's worth $254,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. One equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MCO traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $471.15. The stock had a trading volume of 613,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,899. The company has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $446.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.63.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

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.