Brasada Capital Management LP Has $11.96 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Brasada Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 3.9%, holding 25,686 shares valued at approximately $11.96 million after selling 1,052 shares.
• Moody's reported $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.39, while the company's revenue increased by 4.5% year-over-year.
• The firm's quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share will be paid on September 5th, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Brasada Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,686 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,052 shares during the quarter. Moody's makes up 2.2% of Brasada Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Brasada Capital Management LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $11,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $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 increased its position in Moody's by 16.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Moody's by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley Forge Capital Management LP boosted its position in Moody's by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $622,076,000 after buying an additional 25,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:MCO traded down $11.16 on Tuesday, reaching $498.60. 714,823 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 538,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50 day moving average is $506.84 and its 200-day moving average is $479.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 EPS. 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 will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

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.