Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 19.1%, holding 31,505 shares valued at approximately $15.8 million after selling 7,454 shares in Q2.
• Insider selling was noted, with CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland reducing holdings by 29.46% and insider Michael L. West selling 3,704 shares, decreasing his position by 31.09%.
• Recent analyst ratings have been optimistic, with firms like BMO Capital Markets and JPMorgan Chase raising their price targets, resulting in an average price target of $541.21 for Moody's stock.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 19.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,505 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,454 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $15,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 289.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $541.21.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $481.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.42. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $504.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $481.48.

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, 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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