ABC Arbitrage SA Invests $841,000 in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA has acquired a new position in Moody's Corporation worth approximately $841,000, purchasing 1,806 shares in the first quarter.
• Several large investors, including Atria Wealth Solutions Inc., significantly increased their stakes in Moody's, with 92.11% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• Recently updated analyst ratings suggest a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Moody's with an average price target of $538.80.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,806 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $841,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 21.2% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 257 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 94.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,585 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $110,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 12,522 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,777,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 12.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 921 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Moody's Price Performance

Moody's stock traded up $1.57 on Friday, reaching $515.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 375,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,140. The business's fifty day moving average price is $495.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $478.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Company 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.