Abacus Planning Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,867,000 after buying an additional 119,450 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,450,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 11.1% in the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,230,000 after buying an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $469.88 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.80 billion, a PE ratio of 51.30, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $472.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $428.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $480.46.

Moody’s 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.