S Bank Fund Management Ltd Sells 1,528 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 24.2%, selling 1,528 shares to own a total of 4,789 shares worth approximately $2.4 million.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.5%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, yielding an annualized 0.8% and reflecting a payout ratio of 31.95%.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd decreased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 24.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,789 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,528 shares during the period. S Bank Fund Management Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stableford Capital II LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the second quarter worth $1,090,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the second quarter worth $209,000. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 78.1% in the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 17.7% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,885 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 8.9% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 525 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $478.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.62 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business's fifty day moving average is $498.86 and its 200 day moving average is $482.71. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business'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. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Mizuho set a $539.00 price objective on Moody's in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on Moody's in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $543.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% 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 $4,603,224 in the last ninety days. Company 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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