Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $295.57 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 29.9%, acquiring an additional 146,141 shares, bringing its total ownership to 634,762 shares valued at approximately $295.57 million.
• Insider transactions included CEO Robert Fauber selling 415 shares for $216,401.75, while insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares totaling $1,083,701.60, indicating a significant reduction in their holdings.
• Moody's reported an EPS of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a quarterly revenue of $1.90 billion, marking a 4.5% increase year-over-year.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 29.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 634,762 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 146,141 shares during the period. Moody's comprises 0.8% of Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Moody's worth $295,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $769,085,000 after purchasing an additional 60,816 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Moody's by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock traded down $6.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $512.32. 490,129 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 565,071. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.85. 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 market capitalization of $91.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

About Moody's

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.