Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Boosted by Ninety One SA PTY Ltd

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after buying an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $493.58 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $483.12 and its 200-day moving average is $475.16. 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 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $505.77. The firm has a market cap of $89.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $540,051 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently 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.