Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Cut by Edge Financial Advisors LLC

Edge Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Edge Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $484.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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.