J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 84,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,146 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $40,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,552,000 after buying an additional 83,872 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,943,418,000 after buying an additional 69,455 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $987,524,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $525.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $499.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.