Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 17.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimize Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% in the third quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 787 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total transaction of $305,560.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,527,474.30. The trade was a 0.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Evercore upped their target price on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.94.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $453.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $508.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.41. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $80.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.44.

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.