Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. Acquires Shares of 9,897 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Jasper Ridge Partners acquired 9,897 Moody’s shares worth approximately $4.48 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.11% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61; recent targets range from $575 to $610, while UBS maintained a neutral $505 target.
• Moody’s reported quarterly earnings of $4.68 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 15.1% year over year to $2.19 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,897 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,483,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth about $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $876,775,000 after purchasing an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO opened at $515.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $484.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.08. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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