Edge Financial Advisors LLC Sells 41 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Edge Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 463 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 938 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $484.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.26, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

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.