Seilern Investment Management Ltd Cuts Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Seilern Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,262 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises approximately 0.6% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, 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.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after acquiring an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $32,528,000 after acquiring an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on 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 raised their price target on Moody’s from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.57.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:MCO opened at $512.32 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.72. 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) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,599,385. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.