Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 741 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Moody's by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,558 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,631,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 2,283 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.36.
Read Our Latest Report on MCO
Moody's Stock Performance
Shares of MCO traded up $8.65 on Thursday, reaching $498.97. 182,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,631. The firm has a market cap of $90.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $482.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.
Insider Activity at Moody's
In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Moody's
(
Free Report)
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.
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