Quantbot Technologies LP Has $958,000 Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has significantly reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 82.7%, now holding just 2,058 shares valued at approximately $958,000.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in Moody's, including Horizon Financial Services, which grew its stake by an astounding 77,500%.
• Moody's recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with a net margin of 29.18% and provided guidance for FY 2025 of $13.50 to $14.00 EPS.

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 82.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,058 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,816 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 142,174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $66,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,301 shares during the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 1,449 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Moody's by 41.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,537 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. 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 price target of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $509.13. The stock had a trading volume of 273,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,647. The company has a market capitalization of $91.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $504.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.35. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.94 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.