Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 4.3%, now holding 14,592 shares valued at approximately $7.32 million. Moody's represents 1.8% of their portfolio, making it their 17th largest position.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic, with Barclays raising its target price to $580 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", indicating strong investor confidence in Moody's growth.
• Recently, Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.8%, reflecting the company's reliable profitability and financial health.

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,592 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises approximately 1.8% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $7,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Moody's by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Moody's by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 target price on Moody's in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $484.17 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $501.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $482.49. The stock has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.41. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm 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 was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

About Moody's

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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