Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 36.9%, holding 167,465 shares worth approximately $78 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and set its FY 2025 guidance between 13.500-14.000 EPS.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, with a yield of 0.7%, scheduled for payment on September 5th to investors of record as of August 15th.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,465 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 45,136 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.09% of Moody's worth $77,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 55,808.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $373,879,000 after purchasing an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 142.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,083,000 after purchasing an additional 238,569 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.59 on Wednesday, hitting $495.91. The company had a trading volume of 360,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,372. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $507.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. The company'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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $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 valued at $4,599,385. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.