Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 42.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,770 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Moody’s by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $486.55 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $86.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $483.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

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.