Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Belpointe Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 152.3% in Q1, owning 1,534 shares worth approximately $714,000.
• Moody's reported a Q2 EPS of $3.56, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.39, with quarterly revenue rising 4.5% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Moody's stock, with Wells Fargo raising it to $595.00 and most analysts giving the stock a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 152.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,534 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $714,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $769,085,000 after buying an additional 60,816 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody's by 9.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7%

Moody's stock traded down $3.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $508.70. 585,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,074. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The business's 50-day moving average price is $508.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.66.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction 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 represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.