The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation by 2.5%, selling 2,404 shares and now holding a total of 92,980 shares valued at approximately $43.3 million.
• Insiders at Moody's sold a total of 9,008 shares over the last 90 days, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership, with notable sells from senior executives.
• Moody's reported an EPS of $3.56 in its latest earnings, surpassing analyst expectations, and set a fiscal year 2025 guidance of 13.500-14.000 EPS.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,980 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,404 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Moody's worth $43,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 5.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 77,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 289.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 7.9% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $2.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $499.12. 709,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 778,225. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $507.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.01. The stock has a market cap of $89.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business 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 quarterly 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, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued 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 is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. Corporate 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.