Kestra Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 10.7%, owning a total of 44,797 shares worth approximately $20.86 million after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares.
• Moody's reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $1.90 billion.
• The company's stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $538.80, and ten analysts have given it a Buy rating.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,797 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,330 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $20,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Moody's by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 595 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,953 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MCO traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $511.76. 616,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 785,993. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $502.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.92. The company has a market capitalization of $91.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.48, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.