Empirical Finance LLC Has $955,000 Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Markel Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 212,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 6.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $1,078,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 30,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Moody’s from $260.00 to $267.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Moody’s from $329.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.47.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $315.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $293.72 and a 200-day moving average of $284.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.24. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $230.16 and a 12 month high of $354.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.20% and a return on equity of 66.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Profile

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Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.