Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 11,746 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 8.5% during the second quarter, now owning approximately 126,726 shares valued at $63.56 million.
• Moody's reported a quarterly EPS of $3.56, surpassing analysts' estimates, and experienced a 4.5% increase in year-over-year revenue.
• The stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $540.71 from analysts.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,726 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,746 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $63,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings 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 period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew 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 buying an additional 56,273 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised 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 acquiring an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.71.

Moody's Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE MCO traded down $10.48 on Tuesday, hitting $477.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 478,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 782,472. 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 cap of $85.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50-day moving average is $508.06 and its 200 day moving average is $480.20. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135. 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.