Czech National Bank Has $18.97 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 6.4% in the second quarter, now holding shares valued at approximately $18.97 million.
• Brokerages have raised target prices for Moody's stock, with Wells Fargo increasing its target from $573 to $595, reflecting analysts' positive outlook on the company.
• Moody's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of 0.7%, as part of its consistent return to shareholders.

Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,817 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,262 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Moody's were worth $18,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody's in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $480.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,013,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,678. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $86.07 billion, a PE ratio of 40.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $508.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.96. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 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%.Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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