Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Gabelli Funds LLC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC has increased its stake in Moody's Corporation to 51,899 shares, marking a 1.5% growth, with a total value of approximately $24.17 million as of the last quarter.
• Moody's reported quarterly earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and recorded $1.90 billion in revenue, a 4.5% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, payable on September 5th to stockholders of record on August 15th.

Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,899 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $24,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 11.9% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 289.8% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 7.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $511.76 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $503.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.14. 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 has a market capitalization of $91.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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