OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Grows Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 39.7%, owning 9,596 shares valued at approximately $4.47 million.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share, beating analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $1.90 billion, up 4.5% from the previous year.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share represents an annualized rate of $3.76 and a dividend yield of 0.7%.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,596 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 worth $373,879,000 after buying an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the 1st 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 142.4% in the 1st 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the 4th 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. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $12.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $497.63. The stock had a trading volume of 372,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,749. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $89.08 billion, a PE ratio of 42.27, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $506.84 and its 200 day moving average is $479.77. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

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.