J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires 3,047 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 3.9%, now owning a total of 80,437 shares valued at approximately $40.35 million.
• In the past quarter, significant insider transactions included CEO Robert Fauber selling 415 shares, reducing his ownership by 0.67%.
• Moody's reported a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase for the quarter, with earnings of $3.56 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.39.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,437 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,047 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Moody's were worth $40,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its position in Moody's by 77,500.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Moody's by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Moody's by 7.9% in 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 during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MCO opened at $479.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $504.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $481.28. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody's and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $541.21.

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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