Ascent Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 150.4%, acquiring an additional 1,042 shares and bringing their total to 1,735 shares valued at approximately $808,000.
• Analysts have a largely positive outlook on Moody's, with ten ratings indicating a Buy and a target average price of $540.57.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, yielding 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 150.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,735 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $6,899,490,000 after acquiring an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 16.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Moody's by 9.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 140,128 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley Forge Capital Management LP grew its stake in Moody's by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $622,076,000 after acquiring an additional 25,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.57.

Moody's Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $6.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $512.32. The stock had a trading volume of 490,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,071. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $508.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.85. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.