OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires 71 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 47.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.79.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $484.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41. 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 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $501.29 and its 200-day moving average is $482.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.