Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 2,089 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 53.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 27,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,210,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $527.78 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $528.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $477.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.