Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Raised by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

MCO stock opened at $489.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $481.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.67. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company 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.