Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

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Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,273 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.29% of Moody's worth $244,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Motco raised its holdings in Moody's by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $6.0230 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $515.4930. 642,948 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,775. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $502.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 currently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company'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 value of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.