Swedbank AB Has $34.39 Million Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 1.2%, owning 68,555 shares valued at $34.39 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The company's last quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $3.56, exceeding analysts' expectations and showcasing a revenue increase of 4.5% from the previous year.
• Moody's declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, constituting an annualized yield of 0.8% with a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,555 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Swedbank AB's holdings in Moody's were worth $34,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its position in 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 worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Moody's by 11.9% during the first 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 increased its position in 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 worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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 worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.71.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $8.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $479.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 111,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,318. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $508.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $85.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm 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%. Moody's'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 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid 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 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Insider Activity

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, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody'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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. Insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.