Axa S.A. Sells 38,298 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Axa S.A. cut its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38,298 shares during the period. Axa S.A. owned 0.06% of Moody’s worth $52,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,112,000 after acquiring an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 510.8% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,058,000 after purchasing an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $150,376,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 3.0 %

MCO stock opened at $465.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $449.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by 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.