Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 4,037 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY trimmed its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 177,078 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,037 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY owned approximately 0.10% of Moody's worth $83,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Up 0.6%

MCO traded up $2.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $481.37. 422,582 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $453.35 and a 200 day moving average of $473.22. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.87.

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.