Clean Yield Group Purchases 3,492 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Clean Yield Group increased its ownership of Moody's Corporation shares by 84.1%, holding a total of 7,645 shares valued at $3,835,000.
• In addition to Clean Yield Group, several institutional investors have made adjustments to their positions, with 92.11% of Moody's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Moody's Corporation recently reported earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analyst estimates, and has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS.

Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 84.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,645 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the quarter. Clean Yield Group's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the second quarter worth $206,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the second quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 10,457 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the second quarter worth $202,000. Crown Oak Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.2% during the second quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 16,673 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,363,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10.7% during the second quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCO. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold 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 Stock Up 0.9%

Moody's stock opened at $476.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50-day moving average is $506.10 and its 200-day moving average is $481.09. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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