Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Grows Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. significantly increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 94.6%, acquiring an additional 1,743 shares, bringing its total holdings to 3,585 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 4.5% increase in revenue year-over-year to $1.90 billion.
• Insider activity has seen significant share sales, with key executives reducing their holdings, contributing to insiders owning just 0.14% of the company after selling 8,593 shares worth over $4 million in the last quarter.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 94.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,585 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the 1st 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 during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 581.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Trading Up 0.9%

Moody's stock traded up $4.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $516.34. 588,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,312. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $496.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $478.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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, beating 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 period last year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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 increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

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.