Alps Advisors Inc. Acquires 5,742 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 42.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,649,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Moody’s by 135.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,837,000 after acquiring an additional 26,388 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Evercore upped their price objective on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $453.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $80.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $508.26 and its 200-day moving average is $499.35.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total value of $286,867.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,473,809.80. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.