Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 30.6%, now owning 3,662 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million after selling 1,611 shares in the first quarter.
• Moody's has received several price target increases from analysts, with Oppenheimer raising its target from $552 to $563 and JPMorgan increasing its target from $495 to $565, reflecting strong investor sentiment.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and set a guidance of 13.500-14.000 EPS for FY 2025.

Cresset Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,662 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,611 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Moody's by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Moody's by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Moody's by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,162 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,124,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,859 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,774,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in Moody's by 209.7% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,404 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE MCO traded up $6.0230 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $515.4930. 642,948 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,775. The company has a 50 day moving average of $502.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Company 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.