Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 41,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,774,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $531.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $492.92 and a 200 day moving average of $496.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $534.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%.The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. On average, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

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.