Burney Co. Lowers Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Burney Co. reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 90.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 54,027 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Moody’s by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 132.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.90, for a total transaction of $269,669.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $30,168,399.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,817 shares of company stock worth $911,315. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $485.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $86.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $489.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $488.35. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

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.