Eventide Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC has acquired a new position in Moody's Corporation, purchasing 1,079 shares valued at approximately $498,000 during the first quarter.
• Moody's reported a quarterly EPS of $3.56, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $1.90 billion, marking a 4.5% increase year-over-year.
• Several research firms have increased their price targets for Moody's stock, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising it to $565.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,079 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 175,994 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $81,959,000 after buying an additional 5,942 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 120.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,389 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,124,000 after acquiring an additional 20,458 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10.7% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 964 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 11 Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Moody's by 49.4% in the first quarter. 11 Capital Partners LP now owns 35,010 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promethium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 68.2% during the 1st quarter. Promethium Advisors LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.57.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $507.69. The stock had a trading volume of 449,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 774,831. The firm has a market cap of $90.88 billion, a PE ratio of 43.13, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $507.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.28. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

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.