Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake of 2,771 shares in Moody's Corporation, valued at approximately $1.39 million.
• Moody's has received multiple analyst upgrades, with price targets ranging from $532 to $580, reflecting an overall positive consensus of a "Moderate Buy" rating.
• The company reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and indicating a 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,771 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,390,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 119,548 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after buying an additional 215,551 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the first 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 worth $769,085,000 after buying an additional 60,816 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Moody's by 9.7% in the first 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 buying an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $532.00 to $539.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $542.87.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business'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 owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $468.57 on Friday. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $497.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.95%.

Moody's 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.

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