Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Sells 84,986 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Longview Partners Guernsey LTD holds approximately 1.32 million shares of Moody's Corporation, making it the fund's 2nd largest investment with a value of around $616 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised price targets for Moody's stock, with the average target now at $538.80, and the stock rated as a "Moderate Buy".
• Moody's has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7%, with a dividend payout ratio of approximately 31.95%.

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,323,918 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 84,986 shares during the period. Moody's makes up 5.0% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned approximately 0.74% of Moody's worth $616,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.7% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total value of $216,401.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,130,706.10. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the business'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 directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.1%

MCO stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, reaching $509.79. 483,603 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,288. The company has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.39. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

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.