Focus Partners Wealth Has $24.99 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 8.5%, owning 53,651 shares valued at approximately $24.99 million after selling 4,964 shares.
• Moody's reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with $3.56 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter.
• As of now, 92.11% of Moody's stock is held by institutional investors, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.

Focus Partners Wealth cut its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,651 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,964 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Moody's were worth $24,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% during the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.7% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $518.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $508.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $479.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm 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 business'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. Analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Ten 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.57.

Moody's Profile

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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