Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 14.5%, owning 495,200 shares post-sale, making it the 6th largest position in its portfolio.
• Moody's reported $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.39, with revenue of $1.90 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share with a dividend yield of 0.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. lowered its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 495,200 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 84,048 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for about 8.6% of Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. owned about 0.28% of Moody's worth $230,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 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 last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody's during the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total value of $216,401.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MCO traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $499.00. The stock had a trading volume of 565,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,992. 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. The company has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $507.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.85.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

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.