Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 40.1%, holding 3,721 shares valued at approximately $1.87 million after selling 2,491 shares.
• Moody's reported $3.56 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.17, with year-over-year revenue growth of 4.5%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%.

Patton Fund Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 40.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,721 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,491 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 55,808.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $373,879,000 after buying an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Moody's during the first quarter valued at approximately $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $33,083,000 after buying an additional 238,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 10.3% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Trading Up 0.9%

MCO opened at $476.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $506.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $480.52. 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.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% 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 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.71.

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.

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