Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 600 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $6,775,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Moody’s stock opened at $489.21 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.68, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $481.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.