Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 166,696 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management sharply cut its Moody’s stake by 76.2% in the first quarter, selling 166,696 shares and leaving it with 52,147 shares worth about $22.75 million.
• Analyst sentiment on Moody’s remains positive overall, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.83, though some firms recently trimmed targets or downgraded the stock.
• Moody’s reported Q1 EPS of $4.33, beating estimates, and paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share; however, insiders including the CEO and an SVP also sold shares in recent months.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 76.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,147 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 166,696 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $22,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Cache Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Cache Advisors LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Athena Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Flywheel Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth $218,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $541.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO opened at $450.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $450.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $466.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Moody's Profile

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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