Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $6.97 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,721 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,343 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $6,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position 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 worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock traded up $8.74 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $484.59. 726,137 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 626,307. 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 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $480.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Moody's

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.