Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $1.33 Billion Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,813,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 88,718 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.55% of Moody’s worth $1,332,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $500.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.17 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $487.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $481.42. 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 (NYSE:MCO) 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 firm 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.