Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 4,281 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management purchased 4,281 shares of Moody’s valued at approximately $1.93 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $553.61; recent targets range from $500 to $610.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.68 in EPS and $2.19 billion in revenue, up 15.1% year over year. The company also declared a $1.03 quarterly dividend, while insiders have sold 3,092 shares over the past 90 days.

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,281 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1.2% during the third quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $477.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $475.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.80. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $82.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody's's payout ratio is 26.13%.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source