Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 3,773 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Empowered Funds increased its Moody’s stake by 22% in the first quarter, purchasing 3,773 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 20,926 shares worth approximately $9.13 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company.
• Moody’s reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.68 per share and revenue of $2.19 billion, exceeding estimates and representing 15.1% year-over-year revenue growth. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $553.61.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to an annualized $4.12 payout and a 0.9% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold 3,092 shares worth approximately $1.45 million over the last quarter.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,926 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,773 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $9,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $484.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $83.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $474.64 and its 200-day moving average is $459.55.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody's from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $553.61.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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