1,162 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Acquired by BlueSpruce Investments LP

BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000. Moody’s comprises about 0.0% of BlueSpruce Investments LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 25.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 5,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 88.3% in the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 626.8% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 53,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 45,867 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 805,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,959,000 after acquiring an additional 9,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $486.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $483.44 and a 200-day moving average of $492.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.23%.

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.