Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 55,808.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $373,879,000 after purchasing an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE MCO opened at $485.72 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $455.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.61. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $87.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.10, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.