Bowie Capital Management LLC Has $61.09 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Bowie Capital Management LLC sold 5,781 shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO), decreasing its holdings by 4.2% to 131,189 shares, which represent about 2.9% of its portfolio.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue of $1.90 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 4.5%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Bowie Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,189 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,781 shares during the period. Moody's accounts for 2.9% of Bowie Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Bowie Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $61,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Moody's by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 12,130 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,732,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $442,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $2.9740 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $514.9740. 352,964 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 789,058. The company has a market cap of $92.18 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $500.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.65.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

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.