DAVENPORT & Co LLC Purchases 1,119 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in Moody's Corporation by 21.7% during Q2, now holding 6,266 shares valued at $3,143,000.
• Moody's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $3.39, while revenue reached $1.90 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a current yield of 0.8%, and a dividend payout ratio of 31.95%.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 21.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,266 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted 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 valued at $244,817,000 after acquiring an additional 56,273 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted 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 valued at $32,528,000 after acquiring an additional 5,095 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MCO opened at $489.79 on Thursday. 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $502.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $482.29. The firm has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on shares of Moody's and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $541.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction 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 represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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