IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 5.6% in Q2, acquiring an additional 1,617 shares, bringing its total holdings to 30,626 shares valued at approximately $15.36 million.
• Moody's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.39, with revenue rising 4.5% year-over-year to $1.90 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.8%, while maintaining a payout ratio of 31.95%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $15,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 55,808.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth approximately $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 21.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Moody's by 142.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,083,000 after buying an additional 238,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $102,413,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Up 1.7%

MCO traded up $8.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $489.13. 830,249 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,628. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $508.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $480.01. The firm has a market cap of $87.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. The firm'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. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.71.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total value of $212,749.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.