George Kaiser Family Foundation Takes Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• The George Kaiser Family Foundation invested approximately $280,000 in Moody's Corporation by acquiring 602 shares during the first quarter.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings of $3.56 per share, surpassing analyst expectations and achieving a net margin of 29.18%.
• Moody's has recently received updated price targets from various analysts, with a consensus average target of $538.80 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."

George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 602 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 7.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE MCO traded down $5.1970 on Thursday, hitting $509.7530. The stock had a trading volume of 488,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 788,261. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The business's fifty day moving average price is $500.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.90. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.