Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $5.66 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 13.0% during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 12,143 shares valued at approximately $5.65 million.
• Multiple analysts have set optimistic price targets for Moody's stocks, with the highest target at $595.00 from Wells Fargo, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's performance.
• Moody's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, indicating a 0.7% yield, with a payout ratio of 31.95% based on their current earnings.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,143 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 289.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 7.9% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $509.79. The stock had a trading volume of 483,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,226. The business's fifty day moving average is $506.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%.Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.