Smith Group Asset Management LLC Buys 739 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 112.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $493.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $481.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.88. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 843 shares of company stock worth $401,119 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by 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.