Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 335,770 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 335,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $141,336,000. Moody’s accounts for 1.6% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Moody’s as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after acquiring an additional 119,450 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,706,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 4.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,692,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,088 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $720,502,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,773,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $692,850,000 after acquiring an additional 229,831 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCO traded up $5.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $464.93. 516,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,371. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $431.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $403.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $465.30. The stock has a market cap of $84.90 billion, a PE ratio of 50.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s 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 owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.