Hantz Financial Services Inc. Invests $1.35 Million in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,200 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,347,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 392.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,634,000 after acquiring an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $265,285,000 after acquiring an additional 14,344 shares during the period. Motco raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,117 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $350,769,000 after purchasing an additional 24,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $456.00.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $4.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $487.74. The stock had a trading volume of 822,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,031. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $451.61 and a 200-day moving average of $412.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $88.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $488.64.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

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.