Amundi Cuts Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Amundi has decreased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 15.0% during the first quarter, now owning 962,262 shares valued at approximately $425.7 million.
• Moody's recently reported earnings of $3.56 EPS, exceeding expectations, with quarterly revenue of $1.90 billion, showing a year-over-year increase of 4.5%.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Moody's stock, with the consensus rating currently at "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of around $540.57.

Amundi reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 962,262 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 169,394 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.53% of Moody's worth $425,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 132.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total value of $216,401.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This represents a 0.67% 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. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock traded up $8.95 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $507.98. The company had a trading volume of 735,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $90.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $507.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $479.22.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

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.