Junto Capital Management LP Cuts Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Junto Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 72.7%, owning 26,971 shares after selling 71,816 during the first quarter.
• Wells Fargo & Company and other firms have increased their price targets for Moody's, with the current average target price at $538.80 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing a 0.7% dividend yield, with the payout ratio currently at 31.95%.

Junto Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 72.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,971 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 71,816 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $12,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 55,808.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth about $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 21.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 142.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,083,000 after purchasing an additional 238,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:MCO traded down $11.16 on Tuesday, hitting $498.60. The stock had a trading volume of 714,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,936. 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 stock has a market cap of $89.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.36, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $506.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.77. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company 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%. Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.80.

Moody's 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.