Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Decreases Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 3.1%, now holding 53,890 shares valued at approximately $25.1 million after selling 1,746 shares.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Moody's, with Wells Fargo raising its target from $573.00 to $595.00, while the average analyst target price is now $538.80.
• Moody's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%, with its ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,890 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Moody's were worth $25,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $752,980,000 after acquiring an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 9.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after acquiring an additional 140,128 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley Forge Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $622,076,000 after acquiring an additional 25,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $509.79. 483,603 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 582,619. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month 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 has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. The business's fifty day moving average price is $506.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.86.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's quarterly 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, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total value of $216,401.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,130,706.10. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 in the last three months. 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.