Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Invesco LLC

Invesco LLC raised its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,119,000 after acquiring an additional 5,041 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 26.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 101.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.71.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $476.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $506.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.09. 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 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.28 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Moody’s Company 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.