Ninety One North America Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,747 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises approximately 2.6% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $41,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE MCO opened at $492.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $483.06 and its 200 day moving average is $474.82. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $505.77. The stock has a market cap of $89.27 billion, a PE ratio of 45.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s 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.