Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Raises Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,360 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Moody's by 510.8% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $5.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $428.55. The company had a trading volume of 883,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,536. 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 company has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $471.20 and its 200-day moving average is $475.73. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $524.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.