Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 4,224 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC sold 4,224 shares of Moody's Corporation, reducing its stake by 7.7%, leaving it with 50,751 shares valued at approximately $23.6 million.
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings of $3.56 EPS, exceeding estimates of $3.39, with a revenue of $1.90 billion, which was up 4.5% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a payout ratio of 31.95% and an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,751 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,224 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $23,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 132.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in Moody's by 581.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $511.76 on Wednesday. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $91.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $503.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

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.

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