Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Progressive Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Progressive Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 2.2% in the first quarter, owning 34,511 shares worth approximately $16.07 million, representing 4.5% of its portfolio.
• Moody's has received mixed ratings from analysts, with target prices ranging from $468.00 to $595.00, leading to an overall average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $538.80.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, which will be paid to shareholders on September 5th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Progressive Investment Management Corp lessened its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,511 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 782 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for approximately 4.5% of Progressive Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Progressive Investment Management Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $16,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.80.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MCO traded up $3.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $515.56. 290,339 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 788,970. The company has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $500.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.65. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The firm's 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

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.