Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 1,343 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,343 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd 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 increased its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third 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 stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $475.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $480.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.38. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.