Simon Quick Advisors LLC Buys 78 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 610 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 11.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $38,338,000 after buying an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $485.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $88.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $480.61 and its 200-day moving average is $472.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

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.