Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (MCO) by 8.3% during Q2, now owning 20,412 shares valued at approximately $10.24 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have also significantly adjusted their stakes in Moody's, with 92.11% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• The company's recent earnings report showed $3.56 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, with analysts maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,412 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $10,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 1,000.0% during 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. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Moody's by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 61,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $541.21.

Moody's Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $485.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $503.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.02. The company has a market capitalization of $86.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

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.

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