741 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $489.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $481.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.88. The company has a market capitalization of $88.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.