Moody's Corporation $MCO Stock Holdings Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Moody’s stake by 156.5% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 133,743 shares valued at approximately $60.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of MCO.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $553.61. Moody’s recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.68 EPS and $2.19 billion in revenue, up 15.1% year over year.
• Moody’s declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to a $4.12 annualized payout and a 0.9% yield. Insiders sold 3,092 shares worth about $1.45 million during the quarter, though the transactions were conducted under pre-arranged trading plans.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 156.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,743 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 81,596 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.08% of Moody's worth $60,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 87.1% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody's from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $477.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $82.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $471.89 and a 200-day moving average of $461.15. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.13%.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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