Arizona State Retirement System Has $18.94 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System reduced its Moody’s stake by 4.9% in the second quarter, selling 2,171 shares and retaining 41,818 shares valued at approximately $18.94 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.11% of MCO.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Moody’s, with an average price target of $553.61; Barclays raised its target to $575, while UBS and Mizuho retained neutral ratings.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.68 in EPS and $2.19 billion in revenue, representing 15.1% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to a 0.9% annualized yield.

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,818 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,171 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Moody's were worth $18,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 1.2% in the third quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 3.8% in the first quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 497 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $480.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $491.33 and a 200-day moving average of $463.60.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 EPS. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Moody's's payout ratio is 26.13%.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.

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