Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 1,164 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after acquiring an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third 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 buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third 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, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $540,051 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $503.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $91.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $506.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $482.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $475.85.

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.