UMB Bank n.a. Buys 645 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Moody's Corporation by 7.3%, owning 9,509 shares valued at approximately $4.77 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Wolff Wiese Magana LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Moody's, reflecting strong interest in the stock.
• Moody's reported earnings of $3.56 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year.

UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,509 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $4,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,434,000. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $540.71.

Moody's Stock Up 1.7%

MCO stock traded up $8.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $489.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,199,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 784,296. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $508.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $480.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. The company's revenue 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, equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over 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.