Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Decreases Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 187,086 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,396 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY owned about 0.10% of Moody's worth $73,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,418,296,000 after buying an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,909,643,000 after buying an additional 38,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,359,927,000 after buying an additional 205,800 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Moody's by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,112,947,000 after buying an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $851,276,000 after buying an additional 41,746 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $6.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $377.16. 624,356 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 665,200. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $68.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $386.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $367.87.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody's had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Moody's from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.75.

About Moody's

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.