4,296 Shares in Moody's Corporation $MCO Purchased by IMS Capital Management

Key Points

• IMS Capital Management acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation, purchasing 4,296 shares valued at approximately $2,155,000, representing 1.0% of their portfolio.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Moody's, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $495 to $565, indicating a positive outlook on the stock.
• Moody's reported a net margin of 29.18% and earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and marking a 4.5% revenue increase year-over-year.

IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,296 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,155,000. Moody's accounts for 1.0% of IMS Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 5.8% during the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.71.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $476.32 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.17. The company has a market cap of $85.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.