95 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 14.1% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 59.5% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 31,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,246,000 after purchasing an additional 11,743 shares in the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $484.60 on Thursday. 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 cap of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.10. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.