Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $6.10 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 87.1%, owning 13,099 shares valued at $6.1 million after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Moody's reported a Q2 EPS of $3.56, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $1.90 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a 0.7% yield, set to be paid on September 5th.

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 87.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,099 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $6,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,040,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Moody's by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,826,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Moody's Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $495.91. The company had a trading volume of 551,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,294. The company's 50-day moving average is $507.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.90. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. 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 $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Insider Activity 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Company 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.