Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $386,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,354.5% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 11,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,916,000 after acquiring an additional 10,877 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,709,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $719,635,000 after acquiring an additional 78,782 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 16,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 7,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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 upped their price target on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $489.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $481.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $472.67. 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 $88.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.68, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95.

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.