UMB Bank n.a. Increases Stock Position in 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. grew its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,509 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $4,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 5.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 11.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.71.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded down $10.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $477.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 478,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 782,472. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $85.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.20. 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 (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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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. Research analysts expect 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 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade 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.

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.