Golden State Equity Partners Trims Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Golden State Equity Partners lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 748 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $496.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.02 billion, a PE ratio of 45.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $505.77. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $474.82.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.