World Investment Advisors Takes Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 47,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,287,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 4,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $3,845,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 447,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $208,370,000 after purchasing an additional 184,297 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,984 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,249. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $486.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $488.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $488.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

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.