Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) is Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd's 5th Largest Position

Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,083,090 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 277,620 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for 9.0% of Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd owned approximately 0.60% of Moody's worth $512,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Moody's by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 83.0% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody's from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody's Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $1.21 on Thursday, hitting $485.84. 517,080 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 603,670. 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 twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $503.95. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $480.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.03 billion, a PE ratio of 44.37, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current 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.