Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 2.1% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 5.8% during the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 5.7% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 482 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.57.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $507.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $90.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $508.07 and a 200-day moving average of $479.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.