Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Moody’s Call Options (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 4,144 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 544% compared to the typical volume of 643 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Finally, TRB Advisors LP increased its holdings in Moody’s by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. TRB Advisors LP now owns 30,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,326,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of MCO traded down $9.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $468.59. The stock had a trading volume of 209,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,266. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $490.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.37. The firm has a market cap of $81.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.