Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Raised by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 567.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $475.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $471.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

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.