Legato Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 53.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $527.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $483.65 and a 200 day moving average of $477.80. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $528.09. The firm has a market cap of $95.63 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 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.