Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 1,562 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $100,414,000 after buying an additional 93,244 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $714,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 43.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 43,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.4%

Moody’s stock opened at $498.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $491.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $495.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $88.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.40.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.