Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 157,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,199 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $74,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 567.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE MCO opened at $493.58 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $505.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $475.16. The firm has a market cap of $89.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $540,051 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

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.