Seilern Investment Management Ltd Cuts Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Seilern Investment Management Ltd has reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation by 7.0%, now owning 16,757 shares valued at approximately $8.4 million, making it the firm's 19th largest position.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $1.90 billion indicating a year-over-year growth of 4.5%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, representing an annualized yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 31.95%.

Seilern Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,757 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,262 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises 0.6% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $8,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $769,085,000 after buying an additional 60,816 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 16.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 220,681 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 9.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $738,897,000 after buying an additional 140,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $512.32 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $508.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $479.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.42. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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%.The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.57.

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.

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