Blue Trust Inc. Buys 469 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following 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 trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $401,119. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $493.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $481.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.55. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.