10,600 Shares in Moody's Corporation $MCO Bought by Lansing Management LP

Key Points

• Lansing Management LP has acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation, purchasing 10,600 shares worth approximately $4.9 million, which now constitutes 4.1% of their total holdings.
• Institutional investors currently hold 92.11% of Moody's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Moody's has recently received multiple price target upgrades from analysts, with Wells Fargo raising its target to $595 and several others providing targets ranging from $498 to $580.

Lansing Management LP acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,600 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,936,000. Moody's accounts for 4.1% of Lansing Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody's by 64.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,502 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,616,000 after buying an additional 7,263 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in Moody's by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Moody's by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 131 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 304.4% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,640 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,078,000 after buying an additional 16,289 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Moody's during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,181,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.57.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $2.59 on Wednesday, reaching $495.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 551,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,606. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $507.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $479.90.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. The firm'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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business'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 directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.