First Affirmative Financial Network Makes New $218,000 Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 462 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% during 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 in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,919,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,893,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $2,766,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $499.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $482.26 and its 200 day moving average is $473.99. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $401,119. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

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.