Petrus Trust Company LTA Invests $585,000 in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has acquired 1,257 shares of Moody's Corporation, valued at approximately $585,000, in the 1st quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Moody's, with Gotham Asset Management LLC increasing its holdings by 38.5% during the same period.
• Moody's reported a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase, with net earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.39 per share.

Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,257 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 77,500.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 289.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Moody's by 7.9% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $12.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $518.35. 605,530 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 772,711. The business's fifty day moving average price is $508.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.57.

About Moody's

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.