Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 21.0% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 1.53 million shares valued at around $712.77 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in Moody's, with one entity increasing its stake by 5,050.0%, highlighting a strong interest from the investment community.
• Moody's reported better-than-expected earnings of $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $1.90 billion, marking a 4.5% increase year-over-year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.85% of Moody's worth $712,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $499.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.22. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 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.

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