Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 221,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,603 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up about 1.2% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Moody’s worth $104,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.5% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Moody’s by 9.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Moody’s by 10.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 2.3% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, IMS Capital Management grew its position in Moody’s by 0.9% in the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 4,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $490.92. 35,037 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,887. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $481.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.88. The stock has a market cap of $88.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.