Perbak Capital Partners LLP Takes $271,000 Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Perbak Capital Partners LLP has acquired a new stake in Moody's Corporation, purchasing 583 shares valued at approximately $271,000 during the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds including Hennion & Walsh and Horizon Financial Services have significantly increased their positions in Moody's, contributing to 92.11% of the company's stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Moody's recently reported earnings of $3.56 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and projecting FY 2025 earnings guidance between 13.500-14.000 EPS.

Perbak Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 583 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Moody's by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after acquiring an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 227,228 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $107,548,000 after buying an additional 32,633 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,589 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Moody's by 4,020.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 65,798 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,147,000 after buying an additional 64,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group raised 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. Barclays raised their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.57.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $499.00. 565,180 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 534,345. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $507.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $479.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.40, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for 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%.Moody's's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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