Creative Planning Has $11.26 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Creative Planning lifted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Motco raised its stake in Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,191,000 after acquiring an additional 3,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in Moody’s by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,673,000 after acquiring an additional 21,300 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $488.46.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $467.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $478.09 and a 200-day moving average of $437.39. The stock has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.46. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current 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.