Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 1,145 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 8.8%, selling 1,145 shares to own a total of 11,858 shares valued at approximately $5.95 million.
• Insiders have been selling stocks, with SVP Richard G. Steele divesting 1,457 shares worth $741,365, marking a 51.25% decrease in his position.
• Moody's Corporation reported $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and has set a fiscal year 2025 guidance of 13.500-14.000 EPS.

Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,858 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,145 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10.8% during the second quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Moody's in the second quarter valued at about $277,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.4% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in Moody's in the second quarter valued at about $887,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 41.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total value of $212,749.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,451,077.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $476.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Barclays increased their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.71.

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.

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