Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. Purchases 13,000 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. has significantly increased its investment in Moody's Corporation by purchasing 13,000 shares, raising its total holdings to 19,055 shares, valued at approximately $9.56 million.
• Moody's reported a net margin of 29.18% and exceeded analysts’ expectations with earnings of $3.56 per share and revenue of $1.90 billion for the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, which represents a 0.8% dividend yield and reflects a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 214.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,055 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Moody's accounts for about 3.3% of Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $9,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich acquired a new stake in Moody's during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Moody's by 6.3% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 156,677 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,678,000 after acquiring an additional 9,244 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.3% during the second quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,592 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,319,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.4% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,112 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 8.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 851 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,451,077.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $484.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.41. 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 fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $501.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.49.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $542.79.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.