Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Grows Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 88.3% during the first quarter, owning 11,085 shares worth approximately $5.16 million at the quarter's end.
• Institutional investors now control 92.11% of Moody's stock, with notable acquisitions including GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its stake by 55,808.8% to 802,850 shares valued at $373.88 million.
• Moody's has seen a rise in analyst target prices, with recommendations from major firms like JPMorgan boosting its target to $565 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 88.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,085 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,197 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $5,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.5120 on Tuesday, hitting $510.7320. 242,280 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 788,876. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $91.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.43.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.