Barr E S & Co. Sells 950 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Barr E S & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,410 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 950 shares during the period. Moody's accounts for approximately 4.7% of Barr E S & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Barr E S & Co. owned 0.09% of Moody's worth $78,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.1% during the 4th 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 period. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Price Performance

MCO traded down $3.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $434.23. 776,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,441. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.20. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Moody's's payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $524.86.

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.