Moody's Corporation $MCO Holdings Lifted by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 1.3% in the first quarter, now owning 369,778 shares valued at approximately $172.2 million.
• Moody's reported $3.56 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.17, and its revenue rose 4.5% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 369,778 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,617 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.21% of Moody's worth $172,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Moody's by 16.4% during the 4th 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 595 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,953 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,398,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,387,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $509.47. The stock had a trading volume of 146,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,219. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $505.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.