Shell Asset Management Co. Lowers Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Shell Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,239 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $426.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $501.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.40. 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 one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.56.

Moody’s Profile

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.