Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) is Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s 3rd Largest Position

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. cut its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,113 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,911 shares during the quarter. Moody's makes up 5.3% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. owned about 0.13% of Moody's worth $108,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $5.52 on Friday, hitting $428.55. The company had a trading volume of 883,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,945. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $471.20 and a 200 day moving average of $475.72.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 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 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Moody's's payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $524.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.