Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Vanderbilt University

Key Points

• Vanderbilt University increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 32.8%, owning 6,253 shares worth approximately $3.14 million after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares in the second quarter.
• Moody's CFO and SVP both sold significant shares of stock, with total insider sales of 9,423 shares valued at $4.81 million in the last 90 days, resulting in a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, with a 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth totaling $1.90 billion.

Vanderbilt University increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,253 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Moody's by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody'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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on shares of Moody's and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $541.21.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $481.55 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $504.02 and its 200-day moving average is $481.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.42. 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 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

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.

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