Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 1,759 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 68,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $34,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,899,490,000 after buying an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,085,000 after buying an additional 60,816 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 9.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.09, for a total value of $199,652.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,385,939.38. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $532.00 to $539.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.33.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $490.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $493.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $485.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

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.