Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $18.57 Million Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $18,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Moody’s by 135.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Moody’s from $603.00 to $532.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price target on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.56.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7%

MCO opened at $411.65 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $73.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $504.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.63.

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.