Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC has increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 108.5% to a total value of $8.88 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Moody's reported an EPS of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue also surpassing expectations at $1.90 billion.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded Moody's stock, raising price targets; Robert W. Baird increased their target from $525.00 to $552.00, contributing to a consensus target price of $540.57.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 108.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,069 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,925 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $8,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $335,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 150.4% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,735 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $22,093,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $1,727,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 1.2%

MCO stock traded down $6.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $512.32. 490,129 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,071. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $508.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

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.