Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 2,535 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation worth approximately $1.18 million by purchasing 2,535 shares during the first quarter.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $3.76 and a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,535 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 132.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 581.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $498.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 365,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $507.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $480.01. The company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

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.