Cynosure Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cynosure Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 61.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,711 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $135,968,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after acquiring an additional 215,551 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $498.45 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $88.92 billion, a PE ratio of 40.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $491.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.60.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.27.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.