Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $242,000 Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated 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 on the stock. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $484.59 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $471.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.