EntryPoint Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired 664 shares of Moody's Corporation for approximately $309,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Several other institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Moody's, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its position by 55,808.8%.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, and set a forecast of 13.500-14.000 EPS for next fiscal year.

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 664 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 5.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This represents a 0.67% 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded up $6.0230 on Friday, reaching $515.4930. The stock had a trading volume of 642,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,497. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business's 50-day moving average price is $502.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.03. The company has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.