Maverick Capital Ltd. Increases Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 105.4%, acquiring 701 additional shares, bringing its total to 1,366 shares valued at approximately $636,000.
• Several institutional investors have recently boosted their stakes in Moody's, with some increasing their holdings by over 5,000% during the first quarter.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, with a payout ratio of 31.95%, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 105.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,366 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 132.6% during the first 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

Moody's Trading Down 0.2%

MCO stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $499.00. 565,180 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 534,345. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $507.85 and a 200-day moving average of $479.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents 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. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Company 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.