Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 3,386 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,223 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,386 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $2,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 105,415 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in Moody's by 209.7% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,404 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,085,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 471,245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $223,098,000 after buying an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 73,618 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,849,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MCO opened at $438.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.95 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $454.91 and its 200 day moving average is $473.00. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 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.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

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.

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