Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Ninety One North America Inc.

Key Points

• Ninety One North America Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 41.7%, owning 64,583 shares valued at approximately $32.39 million.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.39, with revenue reaching $1.90 billion.
• Moody's declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.8%.

Ninety One North America Inc. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,583 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,994 shares during the period. Moody's makes up about 1.6% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $32,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 5.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $476.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $481.29. 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 quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business's 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. On average, analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.71.

About Moody's

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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