7,160 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO Bought by Sacks & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Sacks & Associates LLC acquired 7,160 Moody’s shares worth approximately $3.25 million, making the stock about 2.3% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of Moody’s.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 14 Buy ratings and seven Holds; Moody’s has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $559.42.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.68 in earnings per share and $2.19 billion in revenue, up 15.1% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, yielding about 0.9%.

Sacks & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,160 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,252,000. Moody's makes up about 2.3% of Sacks & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $559.42.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $464.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $478.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.

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