Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 33.0% in the second quarter, acquiring a total of 3,174 shares valued at approximately $1.59 million.
• Numerous institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have significantly increased their holdings in Moody's, showcasing strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share, beating analysts' estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,174 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Moody's by 3.1% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Moody's by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 2.1% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Moody's by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.71.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, 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 transaction of $212,749.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 1.7%

MCO stock traded up $8.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $489.02. 1,199,881 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 699,185. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $508.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.95%.

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.