AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases Shares of 6,099 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs has invested approximately $2.92 million in Moody's Corporation, acquiring 6,099 shares during the 1st quarter of the year.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in Moody's, with Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosting its stake by 1,000% and others also making notable investments.
• Moody's reported $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.39, along with a revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,099 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MCO stock traded down $3.61 on Monday, hitting $508.70. 585,239 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,074. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $508.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $91.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.42. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at $32,130,706.10. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.