Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 6.6% during the first quarter, owning 147,433 shares worth approximately $67.89 million after selling 10,413 shares.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, surpassing analysts' estimates and achieving a net margin of 29.18%, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.5%.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Moody's stock, with Barclays setting a new target of $580.00 and JPMorgan increasing it to $565.00, indicating bullish sentiment among market analysts.

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,433 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,413 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Moody's worth $67,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco lifted its position in Moody's by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $3.6070 on Wednesday, hitting $515.6070. 269,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 788,893. The firm's 50-day moving average is $500.24 and its 200 day moving average is $479.65. The company has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 quarter, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Company 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.