Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 49.8%, now holding approximately 158,668 shares worth $79.6 million.
• Analysts have issued mostly positive ratings on Moody's, with target prices ranging from $445.00 to $532.00 and an average consensus target price of $541.21.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 31.95%.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,668 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 157,681 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.09% of Moody's worth $79,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Moody's by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody's and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $541.21.

Moody's Trading Up 0.4%

Moody's stock opened at $481.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $504.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $481.48. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 8,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% 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 Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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