Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,534 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired 1,534 shares of Moody's Corporation, totaling around $714,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Moody's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 31.95%.
• The stock's current price is $506.22, with analysts giving it a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,534 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 30.3% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 27.6% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,777 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $769,085,000 after purchasing an additional 60,816 shares during the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 13.0% in the first quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 792 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 39.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,088 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,095,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $506.22 on Thursday. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.61 billion, a PE ratio of 43.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody'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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody'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 sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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