Newport Trust Company LLC Lowers Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 0.3%, owning approximately $137.93 million worth of the company's stock as of the latest SEC filing.
• Moody's reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for its recent quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 4.5% revenue increase from the same period last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a total annualized dividend yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Newport Trust Company LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 296,190 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 874 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Moody's worth $137,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $6.0230 during trading on Friday, hitting $515.4930. The company had a trading volume of 642,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,497. The stock has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.87. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,130,706.10. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 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.