Avanza Fonder AB Has $5.29 Million Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB has reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 11.6%, now owning 10,550 shares valued at $5.29 million after selling 1,385 shares.
• Moody's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, exceeding expectations, alongside a revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year, totaling $1.90 billion for the quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of approximately 31.95%.

Avanza Fonder AB reduced its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,550 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,385 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody's by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 77,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Moody's by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Moody's by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.71.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $8.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $489.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,199,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 784,296. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $508.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.01. The company has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 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.