Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $51.60 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,006 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,846 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.06% of Moody's worth $51,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $439.09. The stock had a trading volume of 238,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,506. The firm has a market cap of $78.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of 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 initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $524.86.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.